Senseless by David Archuleta free essay sample

On January 6, 2011, a song that didn’t make it on David’s debut album leaked. The song is called â€Å"Senseless†, written by James Fauntleroy, who helped pen another one of David’s songs, â€Å"My Hands†. And this song is a little bit like it. With an RB vibe, showing David’s rougher voice and his sensitive side. The song is about a girl breaking up with him, and how he can’t handle it. It’s making him senseless. This song seems a bit extreme for David, considering he’s said he would never act this way over a girl. It seems like that’s why this song didn’t make the album. It’s a lot like â€Å"She’s Not You†, another reject off of the debut which was leaked last year. Both songs show a more vulnerable David, going crazy over a girl, and that’s not the way David is. We will write a custom essay sample on Senseless by David Archuleta or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Though he puts a lot of emotion into this song when singing it, it’s pretty obvious he doesn’t connect to it as well as others. So if the question is whether this song should have made the album, I’d say no. It’s a great song, and David sings it amazingly as usual, putting the right emotion where it’s needed, but it’s not â€Å"him†. It’s a lot more believable to hear David sing about touching fans’ hands rather than things like this. Fans would much rather want to hear the real â€Å"David† in his songs rather than him singing a good song just for the sake of a good song.

Wuthering Heights - Catherine And Heathcliff Essays - British Films

Wuthering Heights - Catherine And Heathcliff Essays - British Films Wuthering Heights - Catherine And Heathcliff Wuthering Heights - Catherine and Heathcliff Essay written by Midnight Toker A Presentation of the Personalities of Heathcliff and Murray Kempton once admitted, No great scoundrel is ever uninteresting. The human race continually focuses on characters who intentionally harm others and create damaging situations for their own benefit. Despite popular morals, characters who display an utter disregard for the natural order of human life are characters who are often deemed iconic and are thoroughly scrutinized. If only the characters of Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights were as simple as that. Set on the mysterious and gloomy Yorkshire moors in the nineteenth century, Wuthering Heights gives the illusion of lonesome isolation as a stranger, Mr. Lockwood, attempts to narrate a tale he is very far removed from. Emily Brontes in-depth novel can be considered a Gothic romance or an essay on the human relationship. The reader may regard the novel as a serious study of human problems such as love and hate, or revenge and jealousy. One may even consider the novel Brontes personal interpretation of the universe. However, when all is said and done, Heathcliff and Catherine are the story. Their powerful presence permeates throughout the novel, as well as their complex personalities. Their climatic feelings towards each other and often selfish behavior often exaggerates or possibly encapsulates certain universal psychological truths humans are too afraid to express. Heathcliff and Catherines stark backgrounds evolve respectively into dark personalities and mistaken life paths, but in the end their actions determine the course of their own relationships and lives. Their misfortunes, recklessness, willpower, and destructive passion are unable to penetrate the eternal love they share. Heathcliffs many-faceted existence is marked by wickedness, love, and strength. His dark actions are produced by the distortion of his natural personality. Although Heathcliff was once subjected to vicious racism due to his dark skin color and experienced wearisome orphan years in Liverpool, this distortion had already begun when Mr. Earnshaw brought him into Wuthering Heights, a dirty, ragged, black-haired child(45; ch.7). Already he was inured to hardship and uncomplainingly accepted suffering. Heathcliff displays his strength and steadfastness when he had the measles, and when Hindley treated him cruelly if he got what he wanted. From the very beginning he showed great courage, resoluteness, and love. Few have the audacity to be victimized (as Heathcliff was by Hindley after Mr. Earnshaws death) and find secret delight in his persecutor sinking into a life of debauchery which will undoubtedly cause his own death. Not only did Heathcliff show his strength through Hindley, but also by following his personal goal of a life with Catherine Earnshaw. Heathcliff vanishes for three years to win Cathy over with his successes. He chose to fight a battle most would never attempt to begin. Heathcliff, being the survivor that he is, proved himself to be quite a gentleman. Nelly offers her impression when narrating, he would certainly have struck a stranger as a born and bred gentleman (130; ch. 14). Although Heathcliffs personality is so unusually and intensely strong, he does emit qualities rooted in ourselves. His trials and tribulations only develop and exaggerate the darkness and violence inherited in not only Heathcliff, but everyone. However, Heathcliffs wickedness is entirely inappropriate and unusual. Without question he is brutal. The primal and universal darkness in Heathcliff must not be excused. The vicious manner n which he helps to destroy Hindley, kidnaps Cathy and Nelly, and brutalizes Isabella and Hareton, suggests that he is not born with the same prima l and universal structure as everyday man, but some other disturbed quality. For example, Isabella in a letter to Ellen wrote, Is Mr. Heathcliff a man? And if so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil? (121; ch. 13). The antisocial menace now induces pain on his undeserving wife. In just a few chapters the reader identifies with Heathcliffs dark instincts, awes at his inability to feel compassion in certain instances, and becomes intrigued with his passion and undying love for Cathy. Lockwoods first impressions of this gentleman reflect the complex and contrasting images he presents simultaneously when he quotes, But Mr. Heathcliff forms a singular contrast to his abode and style of

John Maynard Keynes contribution to macro economics Term Paper

John Maynard Keynes contribution to macro economics - Term Paper Example All these above theories he made when launching his book in 1936 â€Å"the general theory of employment, money and interest.† Keynes believed that the classical approach to macroeconomics was erroneous and had been interfered with by the outbreak of world war one. He also believed that the classical approach’s belief that the balance between supply and demand would ensure employment for everyone was false. This was caused by inadequate investment and the psychology held by many people about saving. People had fear of investments due to the looming uncertainties caused especially by the war. The classical approach had thus grown absurd and this is why John Keynes embarked on the project to come up with new economic theories to save the situation. The solution that Keynes brought to the above problem of the private fear of investment was to bring in public investment from the government albeit on deficit spending. This would in turn create jobs and soon the government wou ld pay off their debts. This therefore laid a foundation for macro- economics as it viewed the entire economy as one focusing on the government’s role in the economy as a whole. His research helped come up with ways that were used to measure an economy’s productivity. ... How Keynes went against say’s law Jean-Baptiste Say, a French man had earlier come up with a theory of his own. This theory stated that it is impossible for supply to outrun demand as supply is brought about by demand any way, which was part of one of the classical approaches to macro-economics that tried to explain the reasons behind recessions and depressions. Say stated that the main cause of a glut (overabundance of a product in the market) is the producer’s illiteracy on the nature of the demand. Another scholar - David Ricardo, furthered this argument to state that recessions are caused by overproduction of goods that are not what the customers wanted. Goods are therefore not sold because the goods produced are not what the customers wanted. Customer satisfaction is a key factor in matters production; therefore, a product cannot be bought if it does not satisfy customer requirements. Keynes misinterprets Say’s law by saying that supply creates its own deman d; this in essence interprets the law to state that whatever will be produced will be consumed which is not the case. Keynes omits the fact that in order for aggregate supply to meet the aggregate demand, the goods supplied must be those that are demanded by the market. This is how Keynes basically went against Say’s law. Keynes therefore, in his book â€Å"the general theory† states that deficiencies in demand are the main cause of economic recessions. The great misinterpretation of Keynes in Say’s laws was what created his legacy up until more economists came up and deduced the above as they made his theory not hold anymore. Economists nowadays have thrown almost all of Keynes theories out of the window and

The Miller's Tale From Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Essay

The Miller's Tale From Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer - Essay Example George Saintsbury has rightly pointed out that â€Å"we perceive in the Canterbury Tales the completion of his command of verse† (George, 129). All the characters in the poem are individuals, reflecting the men and manners of the people of Chaucer’s time. His realistic vision embraces all, rich and poor, bringing out their inmost qualities through careful external descriptions. In this paper I have done an analysis of the â€Å"Miller’s Tale†, examining all the characters in it in order to see Chaucer’s attitude to love and sex. Miller is a down-to-earth man. When the Knight completed his story the Monk wanted to tell his story. But the Miller would not allow him. The host at the inn had doubts about Miller’s skill in narrating a story, and it was also not proper to give Miller the next chance after a Knight who holds respectable place in his society had just finished his noble story. The Miller was badly drunk too. He insisted that he must tell his story. I think here Chaucer cleverly manipulates the plot to escape from the moral responsibility of inserting a bawdy story immediately after narrating one which deals with courtly love. Chaucer is, however, praised for his realistic approach to literature. He believes that all should be given equal place in life and the success of the story lies in variety and contrast, be it moral and immoral. The best narrative devices are, he knows, humor and contrast. Hence, the Miller gets his chance immediately after the Knight. Chaucer is also able to use Miller to challenge the conventions deciding values in life or literature. Therefore, the study of Chaucer’s approach to love and lust reflected through the Miller’s story becomes significant. Though the Miller’s tale looks like a parody to the story narrated by the Knight, it deals with the serious subjects like marriage, love, and sexual relationships. I think Chaucer likes Alison

Does Globalisation Increase Vulnerability?

Does Globalisation Increase Vulnerability? Globalisation will make our societies more creative and prosperous, but also more vulnerable. Lord Robertson (British politician) Explain and assess this statement. The Washington consensus, made in 1989 is one of the main starting point of the globalization. It creates the free trade, capital market liberalization, deregulation of the market, tax reform, etc. (Barnett, Held, Henderson, Casper 2013). The globalization is not a recent phenomenon. It started during the 15th century with the various voyages did by some explorer as Christophe Colombes and many others to find new trade routes (Osland, 2003). The globalization allows the world to develop and create an interconnected world. Many researchers have defined the globalization since its appearance around 1960. Thus, the most broad-ranging definition of globalisation is the growing interconnectedness and interrelatedness of all aspects of society (Jones, 2010). Moreover, the researchers Kegley and Raymond had defined the globalization as a set of processes that are widening, deepening, and accelerating the interconnectedness among societies. Thus, the globalization involves different types o f connections, like economical connections, political or cultural, between nations and countries (Andreeska, 2015). Its main drivers are political/ regulatory (free trade, WTO, GATT), and technological (increase the flow of goods, capital, people) (Hamilton, Webster, 2015). Various organizations had been created to regulate the globalization such as the WTO (World Trade Organisation), the UN (United Nations), World Bank and International Monetary Fund (Hill Hernà ¡ndez-Requejo, 2012); and some summits are taking place like the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit or the UN summit and many others. The NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson said Globalisation will make our societies more creative and prosperous, but also more vulnerable. The rapid dissemination of technology and information offers entirely new ways of production, but it can also bring the spectre of more states developing weapons of mass destruction. To explain and assess this statement, I will firstly w ill describe the various advantages of the globalization making the different countries creative and prosperous. And in a second part, I will describe the different negatives effects implied by the globalization which made our societies in insecurity and vulnerable. Firstly, many debates have taken place over the globalization and its positive and negative effects. The most important one is the post-Washington consensus debate explaining the fragility of policies concerning liberalize trade and set price right and concerning these recommendations which fail in many countries which do not have proper governances institution (Bigman, 2002). In general, in the debates, the proponents said that the globalization is an opportunity for economic growth and prosperity. Whereas, the opponents said that the globalization is more a threat to the environment, the culture et the prosperity of the countries (Osland, 2003). Many debates over the globalization are still present nowadays. The globalization brings many advantages for the nations and the countries over many aspects of the modern life. One of the main aspect of the globalisation is a worldwide market created thanks to the free trade. It allows to reduce various barriers such as tariffs barriers, but also to promote global economic growth and the ability for countries to create some agreements like South Korea Korus or NAFA (Collins, 2015). A worldwide market increases the access to more goods and services reducing prices (Osland, 2003), to new markets which can increase the profit of some societies, such as China with its rapidly growing market, and to new products such as the petrol in Saudi Arabia (Hamilton, Webster, 2015). With a worldwide market, global companies obtain some production, marketing and research advantages thanks to the access of new goods, services, technologies, etc. (Roman, Manolică, 2012). Thus, a worldwide market without barriers has many advantages such as a more effici ent market, an acceleration of the transactions, an introduction of new markets and a stabilized security for foreign investment (Bran, 2015). Another important aspect of the globalization is the economy growth. The globalization helps developing countries like Asian Tigers (Osland, 2003). Because the globalization allows them to have access to new technologies, education,and to increase their standards of living and their business environment (Roman, Manolică, 2012). The expansion of the global economy gives them a certain economic prosperity that helps them to develop and be competitive with the developed countries (Baek, Shi, 2016). For instance, a recent study for Economic Policy research showed that 30-40% of the world population has benefited from the globalization (Osland, 2003). However, one of the main factor of the economic growth of ancient developing countries is the expansion of capitalism, and sometimes when it is necessary the appearance and imposing of democracy (Bran, 2015). As in the video Globalization is good, Johan Norberg had demonstrated that in Vietnam or in Taiwan the globalization played an important role in the development of the country and in reducing the poverty giving some jobs and education (à lvarez, 2014). The globalization also contributes to increase the competitiveness and the creativity of our societies. With the creation of a worldwide market, competitors came from everywhere and not only from the national market, thus increasing the competition between the companies (Bran, 2015). Moreover, some economists emphasize that with trade liberalization, there are more efficient resources and cheap labour cost. Thus, companies are growing and more competitive (Bigman, 2002). Their growth allows them to get the economy of scales benefits with the costs reductions, allowing to maintain the competitiveness (Roman, Manolică, 2012). Furthermore, since the end of the World War II, societies saw major advances in communication and technology with internet creating a global audience (Hill Hernà ¡ndez-Requejo, 2012). This global audience also created global competitor and the rapid technological change contributed to increase the economic performance of the countries to stay competitive. But the competition between companies also leads to this technological change (Roman, Manolică, 2012). To stay competitive in a global market, societies specialized them and became more aware of the new technologies. Thus, they need to examine clearly the market and introduce advanced concepts (Kostovski, Nanevski Gjurcevski, 2016). However, some transnational corporation as General Motors, Walmart or Siemens well understand this new global market. They control most of the worlds investment capital and technology creating them a prominent position. They perfectly understand the functioning of the global market and take advantage on it, for instance, delocalizing their production to developing countries where the labour cost is low (Steger, 2009). Thus, the globalization has many advantages making our societies creative and prosperous. Secondly, the globalization has many disadvantages making our societies vulnerable. Many protests have taken place throughout the world like in Seattle, Washington, France or Indonesia (Bigman, 2002). The demonstration in 1999 in Seattle was aggressive and loud, bring 40 000 protesters together, to protest against wide range of globalizations issues including job losses (Hill Hernà ¡ndez-Requejo, 2012). The globalization makes our societies vulnerable and unsecured. Transworld connections have facilitated the emergence of criminal organizations and illegals economies, and the criminal violences increase (Bran, 2015). Indeed, the criminal violence kills three-quarter of a million people per year (Scholte, 2005). Globalization has created a context for criminal activities such as internet for fraudsters and paedophiles, and the global finance for money laundering. Moreover, the criminal networks evolved with the globalization, allowing the organized crime and the gang to be the largest beneficiary of the globalization. For example, the Colombia-based Cali cartel generates 3$ billion in benefits per year thanks to its network. Another example, the chain of global interconnections allowing the diffusion of the instant broadcast of Ben Ladens speech to a global audience on September 11th (Steger, 2009). However, the globalization also helps to create new agencies and opportunities to com bat crime such as Interpol (Scholte, 2005). The globalization negatively affects the environment like global warming, pollution, deforestation, biodiversity reduction and oceans degradation (Osland, 2003). The increasing demand of products increases the finite resources use, and the pollution level due to the fossil fuel (Bran, 2015). Then, an abusive environment use has dangerous consequences like the rise of sea levels, the air contamination, the destruction of forests and lakes, and the natural resources reduction (Scholte, 2005). For instance, Asian cloud causes premature death, flooding and drought due to increased industrialization and globalization (Osland, 2003). However, political authorities created policies to reduce ecological threats like tax polluter, the promotion of environmentally friendly technologies, and the regulations use to control the pollution amount generated by business (Hamilton, Webster, 2015). Moreover, some global summits on the environment have taken place like Stockholm (1972), Rio de Janeiro (1992), and Johannesburg (2002) to raise the environment problems awareness. Then, the globalization also complicated the health problems due to the easier illness transfer worldwide like HIV/ AIDS which were spread by travellers (Collins, 2015). But it creates new health problems like tobacco, alcohol, asbestos, junk foods, and drugs. However, the globalization helps to find new medicine with the technology and allows the health professionals movement around the world (Scholte, 2005). With the globalization, the business environment becomes more complex with the laws, regulations, cultures, etc. Companies must face global and local competitors. Inefficient organisations cannot survive to this high number of competitors like Lufthansa and France Telecom (Hamilton, Webster, 2015). Furthermore, companies must adapt their products to different markets in terms of behaviour, tradition, expectation and attitude (Roman, Manolică, 2012). The spread of technologies and knowledge makes the competition fierce and feared (Bhagwati, 2004). Moreover, the decreased labour conditions are consequences of the worldwide market creation. To stay competitive, companies relocated their industries (Bran, 2015). But these countries have usually low labour condition like child labour or under-payed jobs (Bigman, 2002). Moreover, these jobs outsourcing create job losses in developed countries (Osland, 2003). According to Robert Scoot of the Economic Policy Institute, China is th e most favoured nation to relocated job with the relocation in China of 3,3 million jobs, including 2,4 million manufacturing jobs (Collins, 2015). All these problems are disadvantages of the globalization and make our societies vulnerable. Finally, the globalization increases the poverty and the gap between rich and poor. In 1870, the worlds 17 richest nations had an average income per capital 2.4 times that all other country. In 1990, the same group was 4.5 times richer (Hill Hernà ¡ndez-Requejo, 2012). This inequality is present in every country due to the gap between skilled and unskilled workers in wages and unemployment rates. Some countries reduced it like Singapore, South Korea, Ireland and Puerto Rico. But it is still present (Osland, 2003). This gap is caused by the developed countries monopole who direct the raw material price making the developing countries dependant on developed countries (Andreeska, 2015). Moreover, the GATT and the WTO benefits were not correctly distributed. Richer countries increased trades and their growth. Whereas, poor countries were marginalized and their economies shrank (Bigman, 2002), thus increasing the gap between poor and rich. This gap is due to the technological change (Ba ek, Shi, 2016), the poor countries government which is usually totalitarian and not liberal, and their important debt burdens (Hill Hernà ¡ndez-Requejo, 2012). All these various globalizations disadvantages make our societies more vulnerable. To conclude, the globalization brings various positive and negative effects to the world and our societies. The main advantages of the globalization are the creation of a worldwide market and free trades increasing the competitivity and the creativity of the societies, the rapid technological changes, and the fact that globalization help to increase the economic growth of developing and developed countries. All these positives impacts make our societies and the world creative and prosperous. However, the globalization brings different negative impacts on the world. The main disadvantages of the globalization are the insecurity, the global environmental threats, the poverty, and the creation of a worldwide market involving a too high number of competitors and the deterioration of the labour conditions. Thus, all these positive and negative impacts make our societies creative and prosperous but also vulnerable, as Lord Robertson said. Moreover, the globalization has still many effects in the political, economic and social sector. At a social level, one of the main effect of the globalization is the uniformization of the cultures. The globalization reduces and destroys the ancient cultures and traditions. There is little by little an uniformization of cultures at a world level. For instance, in every country, the same big companies are present such as McDonalds, KFC, Zara and many others. Nay protestations have taken place over this problem. Bibliography: Books: Bigman, D. (2002) Globalization and the developing countries: Emerging strategies for rural development and poverty alleviation. [eBook], Cabi., Availabe: https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=frlr=id=QKFCo5ajRCcCoi=fndpg=PA27dq=pros+and+cons+of+globalizationots=sr7Ou81_YTsig=XAKtvT00yhzKPseGikyjMb_dAMAredir_esc=y#v=onepageq=pros%20and%20cons%20of%20globalizationf=false [Accessed 15 February 2017] Barnett, Held, A, Henderson, D. Casper (2013), Debating Globalization [eBook]. Oxford: Polity. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. Available: http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/hull/reader.action?docID=1180917 [Accessed 16 February 2017] Bhagwati, J. (2004). In defense of globalization: With a new afterword [eBook]. New York: Oxford University Press. Available: https://www.dawsonera.com/readonline/9780198038078 [Accessed 16 February 2017] Jones, A. (2010) Globalization: key thinkers, Vol.1 [Ebook]. Cambridge: Poltity. Available: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=yOmjDa0akjkCprintsec=frontcoverdq=Globalization+key+thinkershl=frsa=Xredir_esc=y#v=onepageq=Globalization%20key%20thinkersf=false [Acessed 15 February 2017] Steger, M. (2009), Globalization: a very short introduction, [eBook] Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central: http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/hull/reader.action?docID=472386 [Accessed 16 February 2017] Hamilton, L., Webster, P. (2015). The international business environment, 3rd edition[eBook]. Oxgord: Oxford University Press.[Accessed 18 February 2017] Hill, C. W., Hernà ¡ndez-Requejo, W. (2012). Global business today, 7th edition [eBook]. Toronto, ON: McGraw-Hill Ryerson [Accessed 18 February 2017] Scholte, J. A. (2005). Globalization: A critical introduction, 2nd edition [eBook]. Palgrave Macmillan.[Accessed 18 February 2017] Academic Articles: Baek, I., Shi, Q. (2016). Impact of Economic Globalization on Income Inequality: Developed Economies vs Emerging Economies. Global Economy Journal, 16(1), 49-61. Available online: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.kedgebs.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=9b2dc053-07f5-4c96-81a5-a94c12431268%40sessionmgr4010vid=0hid=4202 [Accessed 17 February 2017] Andreeska, I. (2015). The effect f globalization to the world poverty and economic inequality. Journal of Sustainable Development, (1857-8519),5,13, pp. 5-15. Available online: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.kedgebs.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=ebb2637e-e521-4f3e-bdc9-6144e0ecd4ff%40sessionmgr4009vid=1hid=4202 [Accessed 18 February 2017] Bran, F. (2015). GLOBALIZATION OF ECONOMY-PREMISES AND EFFECTS. USV Annals of Economics Public Administration. Available online: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.kedgebs.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=d916a67c-bf3d-402b-bae3-12f6c307bc81%40sessionmgr4009vid=1hid=4202 [Accessed 17 February 2017] Osland, J. S. (2003). Broadening the debate the pros and cons of globalization. Journal of Management Inquiry, 12(2), 137-154. Available online: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1056492603012002005 [Accessed 17 February 2017] Kostovski,N., Nanevski, B. Gjurcevski, M. (2016) Opportunities and threats of globalization and need for improved competiveness of small and medium sized businesses in Republic of Macedonia. Journal of Sustainble Development, (1857-8519), 6 15, pp. 40-55, Available online: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.kedgebs.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=758f2257-f214-41d4-96e6-65cede773942%40sessionmgr4008vid=1hid=4108 [Accessed 18 February 2017] Roman, T., Manolică, A. (2012). Globalisation-advantages and disadvantages from the perspective of the manufacturer. CES Working Papers, (4), 747-757. Available online: http://www.ceswp.uaic.ro/articles/CESWP2012_IV4_MAN.pdf [Accessed 18 February 2017] Website: Collins, M. (2015) The Pros And Cons Of Globalization. Forbes, 6 May [Online]. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikecollins/2015/05/06/the-pros-and-cons-of-globalization/#393f3fe62170 [Accessed 19 February 2017] Video: à lvarez, F. (2014) [Documentary] Globalization is Good by Johan Norberg [Video]. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne5LM2U-I5o [Accessed 20 February 2017]

The Roles of School Counselor

The Roles of School Counselor Based on the counselor's log book listed 26 roles or responsibilities that must be done by a counselor. However, counselors are not necessarily bound by duties recorded because the scope of duties of a counselor is actually more than that. According to Mr. Zaifulnizam, role that can be played as a counselor must be based on knowledge of appropriate guidance and counseling so that they can deal with problems at school and managed to turn the actual functions of guidance and counseling.The main role of the counselor is responsible in order to expand the potential of each student, this is because guidance and counseling services are structured activities will help students to examine, evaluate and choose a realistic personal goal and to ensure that they are desire to achieve their goals. Counselor’s role is not only to help students identify and achieve their goals but encourage and guide students to identify the right direction of life.That’s mean counselor’s role is not only to students' academic performance only but a student's life as a whole in line with the philosophy of education. Mr. Zaifulnizam also stated, counselor also serves as a mediator between the outsider and the school. Outsiders can be parents, society and the authorities such as police. Therefore, the counselor is also responsible for preserve the reputation and good name of the school. Even, counselors also need to act as a mediator between teachers and students. In the some condition the teacher need assistance counselors to understand the students’.Mr. Zaifulnizam also said counselors must be well-informed as they also act as an informer to all school community because, the counselor will be referred if something important happen in the school. Counselor’s role is not only limited towards the counseling process alone but also serves to plan and implement school activities throughout the year, especially involving student affair s. In other words the counselors also serve as planners, implementers, motivator, and advisor for the school community. Types of Services ProvidedThe guidance and counseling unit (UBK) are responsible for providing and coordinating all activities and services supported by the curriculum and co-curriculum activities. According to the Ministry of Education (KPM) in the books of Implementation Guidelines, Guidance and Counseling Services in Schools have outlined several principles. Among other things, guidance and counseling is an educational process, a process that is planned and ongoing. In SMKPM, apart from the annual program of activities the UBK also provide some guidance and counseling program that is planned as follows: a) Counseling Services Counselors provide the guidance and counseling services for individuals or groups. Individual counseling is the process of counseling to students who have problems whether they come alone or who are referred by other teachers. students usua lly come in person to get the consultation is that students who excel in academics, while the case was referred by the other teachers involving students who have problems in school such as not completing their homework and have no interest in learning.But there are also cases where the counselors themselves will review student files such as academic file or discipline file and, where there are problems such as deterioration of academic achievement and student discipline misconduct, UBK themselves will call the student is to be consulted. Usually the individual counseling program is ongoing throughout the year. While Group Counseling is a process of group counseling in which all students usually have the same problem or issue for discussion.This is to enable students to understand the situation and acquire the ability to act and to overcome the discomfort experienced. In addition to counseling services also provide consultancy services to teachers who are always facing issues related to student behavior, student relations and matters of personality development of the students at the school. b) Personality development * The counselor will be requested to solve disciplinary problems. The school discipline will refer students who commit disciplinary offenses repeatedly to a counselor to resolve.Through individual counseling or group of students will be advised to change their attitudes according to the school rules. For example when there is a student who likes to bully their peers, the UBK will call for a consultation session, they will be given proper advice to the formation of their personal development towards a better and consequently remove the bad behavior. c) Motivation and learning skills * Students are given the guidance to keep their academic achievement. Counselor role to motivate students less confident of their abilities and given up with their academic performance.Counselors also play a role in guiding the students to acquire the skills to learn, ho w to control stress, time management skills and effective learning techniques and answering exam questions. Therefore the Guidance and Counseling Unit has planned special programs such as ‘Program Maju Diri’, ‘Program Teknik Menjawab Soalan’, and ‘Program Motivasi / Bijak Belajar PMR dan SPM’. d) Career Development Guidance * The Guidance and Counseling Unit provide a variety of programs for students to expose them to the working world.The main purpose of the program is to enable students to learn the things themselves so that the appropriate choice of careers can be made. Programs implemented are the ‘Program Hari Kerjaya' and the ‘Pameran Kerjaya’. Such programs usually emphasized on form five students. e) Orientation program to the new teachers * The Guidance and Counseling Unit also responsible in managing the orientation program for the new teachers. These programs are specific to the new teachers to familiarize themselv es with the school. f) Career development for teachers Responsible for handling the career enhancement programs for teachers. An example of career enhancement programs for teachers is LADAP (Latihan Dalam Perkhidmatan). Problem handled Problems handled by the guidance and counseling unit (UBK) in the scope of duties and responsibilities that must performed by a counselor. It involves any student in need of guidance and advice and has been classified these cases into eight categories such as Academic, personal, career, discipline, psychosocial, drug or cigarettes, family and HIV or Aids.The highest cases handled by UBK is discipline cases, most common discipline offense committed by the student is skipping school and modes of dress that does not comply with the school rules. These kinds of cases are usually referred by the school discipline unit. Discipline is the highest cases because it involves a lot repetitive cases such as truancy and absenteeism. The second highest cases involv es academic and career. Usually these cases are referred by teachers or students themselves voluntarily come to seek for advice, they usually have a good level of academic achievement.Family problem and students personal matter among the popular cases handled by the UBK. Most of the students in SMKPM are from middle-income families. This caused many of neglected children less attention from their parents because they are busy to earn for living. Some even came from a broken family and parents with problems that affect their children indirectly. This causes the children do not interested in studies and always skipping school. They are usually referred by the class teacher for advice and counseling. Sometimes there are also students themselves who come to seek for advice on personal problems.There are also the cases handled by UBK involving students who have problems in psychosocial. The psychosocial problems related with mental wellness of students such as spiritual and self-esteem. Such cases are usually referred by teachers or by parents themselves. Students who are involved in drugs and cigarettes were also handled by the UBK. Although drugs and cigarettes is not popular cases, the school authorities through UBK still take necessary precautions by conducting lot of programs that expose disadvantages of drugs and cigarettes to students. So far there has been no case of HIV and Aids.STATISTICS ON CASE (January – September 2012) Type of Cases| Num. of Cases| Academic| 56| Personal| 20| Career| 47| Discipline| 113| Psychosocial| 13| Drug/Cigarettes| 6| Family| 23| HIV/Aids| 0| Total| 278| The pie chart above shows the percentage of cases handled by UBK. Discipline cases showed the highest record. Apart from discipline, other popular cases handled by UBK are academic and career of the students. While there were no cases of HIV and Aids. All the cases are for the whole month of January to September of 2012. Statistics for the cases above refers to the morni ng school session only.

Research on Ginger in Meghalaya

Report on the field study of Ginger and Turmeric in Meghalaya PREFACE Meghalaya is a state which is rich in natural resources, be it from flora to fauna to the mineral resources, the state has it in abundance. Agriculture, including crop and animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry and agro processing constitutes the very basis of socio economic lives of India. One of the major activities in the state is cultivation of horticulture crops which includes that of Ginger and Turmeric.Ginger is being predominantly grown in Ri Bhoi District while almost the whole belt of Jaintia Hills, the best quality of Turmeric found in the whole country with the reported cucurmin content up to 7. 6%. However amidst plenty of what we have, there are too many missing links in between for the state to realize the full potential in terms of commercial activities in revenues and most importantly to address the issues of the farmers to increase the income for better livelihoods in the villages.Therefore the mar ket access team from MBDA along with the staffs of Appropriate Technology India (ATI) made a visit to some of the important cultivation belt of ginger and turmeric of Ri Bhoi District and West Jaintia Hills District for assessment of production which includes cultivation practices as well as understanding the organic practices for the potential of organic certification for premium pricing of the products, post harvesting and processing aspects as well as marketing aspects for improving livelihood security in the state.The visit was spanned in six days and within these six days; the program was conducted in the following order: 12th February 2013 On this day the team comprising of three interns from MBDA and five ATI workforce under the supervision of Mr Iai Majaw, the Horticulture Officer with the Government of Meghalaya, left Shillong at around 10 AM and visited the Ginger belt of Ri Bhoi District. Firstly we visited the farm house which is located next to the Highway to Guwahati a t Umsning. There we met and interacted with around twenty five ginger cultivators in and around Umsning.These villages are located within the distance of 1 to 3 kilometers from Umsning. The farmers start sowing ginger from the last week of April throughout the month of May. We came to know that they inherited the ginger cultivation practices from their fore fathers seeing that the climate is conducive for the crop to thrive and that there is a market for all of their produce from year to year. The main area of concern for them is that, the plant is frequently getting infected with root and stem rotting, thus spoiling their effort in time and money.Stem rot is more frequent than root rot and occurs in between the months of June to September. They don’t have any solution to tackle these kind of infections, the only activity that they do is to uproot the whole crop and throw it as far as possible from the cultivation land and sometimes even burning that particular crop but it se ldom help the cause as the infection will start to spread to the whole row and even at times the whole field. They practiced Jhum cultivation with the belief that it softens the soil and helps in the ploughing activity.They also have a fair idea of the reason behind crop rotation and practiced it once in 3 years. They do give manure to the crop once in a while in the form of poultry, pig and cow droppings. They said that they have received training from the horticulture officers but most of the time they apply those methods being taught to them in the beginning phase but revert back to their traditional method of cultivation. They stored the seed in a proper way and have no problem with the occurrence of seed spoilage before the cultivation period.The nearest market for them is the Umsning market which is being held once a week. At the weekly market, traders which are middle men come to purchase their crop at rates of 1,100 – 1,200 rupees per 40 kgs which is a standard unit o f weight being applied in terms of ginger and turmeric in the whole area. However, when they feel that a better price is available at Iewduh market in Shillong or when there is a need to go Shillong for personal work, they carry along the ginger which fetched them a price of around 1,500 – 1,600 per 40 kgs.From there the team moved to Sohpdok village which is approximately 5 kms from Umsning. Here we interacted with the headman of the village and around 15 farmers in the processing unit which is next to the SSA school premises and found out that the ginger cultivation was enlarge by the intervention and help of RRTC, Umran. There are 3 driers, 2 slicers and 1 pulveriser at the processing unit which is not yet functional as they have just received the machines from North Eastern Hill University.The problems and practices regarding the cultivation practices are the same as the ones which have been described above. However, the people said that they rate of ginger that they sell at the village when traders come to collect from the village is around 900 – 1,000 rupees per 40 kgs. The last visit for the day was at Regional Resource Training Centre (RRTC) Umran, which is run by the Catholic Church and presently headed by Father James.The center spans around 400 acres campus and facilitates in imparting training to various livelihood and entrepreneurship program and one of the main activities is the food processing centre which includes turmeric and ginger processing. The ginger after undergoing a series of treatment which includes peeling, trimming, weighing, washing, and processing by boiling with citric acid is then mildly dried and mixed with fine sugar in specific proportions and then properly dried and added with sugar to add as topping. It is then packed and labeled as Ginger Candy.The ginger candy is retailed at an MRP of 35 rupees for 100gms. When asked about the costing, the staff who is taking care of the processing unit said that the whole c ost of labour and various activities from start to finish is around 120 – 150 rupees/kg, while the retail cost is 350 rupees/kg thus making a profit of 200 rupees/kg. The ginger is also converted into powder form firstly dipping the dried ginger in Sodium Carbonate solution to increase the shelf life of the product and then grind to powder and packed.The same goes for turmeric which is simply grind into powder form and retailed at the stores. Their main area of concern is marketing, which they say they have a limited penetration to the market through their retail outlet next to the national highway and some retail shops in and around Shillong. 13th February 2013 The team left for Nongpoh and along with the existing ERPs of MBDA went to Umkon village which is 23 kms away from it. Here we interacted with just around 5 farmers as there is a funeral in the village. Almost each and every ousehold practice ginger cultivation in large scale and turmeric cultivation for their own con sumption on a lower scale. Almost all of the households exceed 500 kgs of ginger production in a year with some of them going up to 3 or 4 tonnes. The main market is at Umden in which the price of the ginger is around 1,000 rupees/40 kgs while the seed is being sold at 35 rupees/kg. The seed is being sold among the farmers from nearby areas and new farmers while the raw ginger is being bought by middlemen and commission agents who then supply either to Guwahati or Kolkata directly.The main areas of concern for the farmers is again the same issue of their inability and lack of knowledge how to tackle diseases such as stem and root rot. However, they shared their success story of how ginger cultivation has improved the general living conditions in and around the area. There is no value added activity for the ginger being produced in the area. Then at around 4 pm we left for Byrnihat to visit the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd (NERAMAC).There is a process ing plant to extract ginger oil from fresh or raw ginger. The plant capacity is around 3 to 5 tonnes per day, yielding 1. 5 liters of oil which retails at 7000 – 9000 rupees/liter. The major problem that they are facing is the availability of raw ginger as most of the ginger which is produced within the region is being sold to middlemen at a higher rate. 14th February 2013 The team left Shillong at around 8 AM for the turmeric belt of West Jaintia Hills District.We stationed at CTC hotel and then under the supervision of Mr Lyngdoh, a horticulture officer with the Govt. of Meghalaya, proceeded to Wahiajer village where we interacted with 2 farmers, one farmer just started the ginger cultivation activity since he saw that there is a market and the soil is very good for ginger to grow, so keeping in mind of the above factors he started cultivating ginger and after harvesting the produce, decided not to sell any of it but to keep it as seed for the next year.When we arrived ther e we interacted with him and asked him to show us the place where the seed is being store and when he dug up some of the seed, even though the ginger quality and size is good, it was found that the whole ginger is moist and wet and infected with fungus, budding has also begun to take place. He said that he has received no training on how to cultivate, harvest and store the ginger so he is not aware of what procedures and process to follow.Then we told him to take out the whole lot of ginger stored there and to dry it in the shade and treat it with organic chemicals which might be available at the horticulture office in the block. Being a starter in the activity he is unaware of the whole system, except the price that he might get if he is to sell the product at the local market. He also practices slash and burn cultivation like the rest of the farmers are doing in the whole area.We then met with another farmer who has been practicing the ginger cultivation activity for quite some ye ars but he confessed that he is quite disheartened with the activity as there is no help from the government side in monetary terms nor in training facilities, so he is contemplating of shifting his cultivation activity from ginger to that of tomato as there is a better market currently prevailing in the whole area. The horticulture department is also neglecting the ginger farmers in the area while promoting that of the tomato.We then proceed to Laskein grinding and processing centre which has a Federation comprising of 9 clusters, 30 villages and around 100 SHGs. The Unit was set up in 2007 with the objective of improving livelihood and income within the area. The processing unit was set up with the help of MRDS which also helps in the training of man power as well as marketing activities. The unit is well equipped with Dryers, Slicers, Pulverisers and for the first time this year an Oil extractor machine is being set up which will be functional from this year onwards, the staffs a lso are yet to get training how to utilize the machine.The steps in the processing of ginger in the unit here are as follows: WASHING BOILING SLICING DRYING GRINDING PACKAGING The production of turmeric powder last year was around 3 tonnes and this year they aimed at a higher quantity. Each and every cluster of villages which falls under the association have a commitment to bring the produce of raw turmeric to the processing centre and the Federation buys it at a rate of 30 rupees/kg, when the turmeric is being sold in powder form at 250 rupees/kg as of last year, 230 rupees is being given back to the farmer and 20 rupees is being kept by the federation.The packaging is done in quantities of 1/4th kg, ? kg and 1 kg for the local market while it is packed in gunny bags of 40 kgs each for the lot which is supposed to be transported to Guwahati. 15th February 2013 The team accompanied by Mr Remi from MRDS went to Umsalait village which falls under Iakitlang cluster, comprising of two v illages, Umsalait and Umsaroo which has 245 and 70 households respectively. There are 6 SHGs in the cluster, out of which 5 groups consist of women and 1 group that of men.The team interacted with around 30 farmers and learnt that they have been practicing the cultivation of turmeric from generation which they inherited from their forefathers but increased the activity to a larger scale as soon as they see that there is a market and it contributes to the generation of income activity. The problems faced by the farmers are almost the same throughout the state in which the major issues are that of diseases and not knowing how to tackle them.They are quite grateful to MRDS which helped them in imparting knowledge and funds even if it’s in small mount, the intervention has helped them to increase their income for a better living conditions. 16th February 2013 The team visited Mr W. Nongspung processing centre situated at Laitkor which is roughly 12 kms from Shillong. Mr Nongspung took advantage of the PMEGP scheme from DIC, Shillong and set up his processing centre there.However, fewer spices products are being processed at his unit since he only supply dry turmeric to a company in Guwahati known as Amalgamated Plantations, located at Christian Basti on a commission basis. His commission stands at 20 rupees/kg. He supplies around 30 tonnes of dry turmeric in a year and the company financed the money entirely in advance. Owing to this, he processed dry turmeric at a very less amount. He then started processing fruit juices such as star fruit, cherry as well as pickling of ginger, radish, chillies and bamboo shoots.His products have Organic tags along with them, while there is no proof of paper work that his products are organic certified. He sources the packaging materials from Industrial estate in Guwahati and get the label locally printed in Shillong. According to him, the major difficulty he is facing is that he doesn’t know how to market his produ cts in a big way and he has no idea about branding at all OBSERVATIONS Below are the few parameters of observation prevailing in the production areas where the team has visited a) AREA AND PRODUCTIONMost of the households in the villages which fall under the area that we have visited do not have a fair idea of the size of their respective plot under ginger and turmeric cultivation. From the conversation that we had we could make out that the minimum area of cultivation per family is around 1 acre up to 4 to 5 hectares. As far as production is concerned, the quantity that each household produces ranges from 750 kg to 5 tonnes. b) LAND USE The land that is used is normally rotational and at times shifting and bun cultivation is a normal practice which is traditional in nature.The area to be cultivated is first covered with the soil on top of the leaves and then slowly burned and often left overnight so as to soften the soil in the ploughing process thus easing the tilling process. Thi s practice also helps in sterilization of the soil. The agricultural land is mostly owned and controlled by individual farmers and some of them have been leased by people who are not engaged in agricultural activities who are mostly traders or government servants or who have migrated from the village on a nominal fee or in exchange for the products the cultivate. ) LAND PREPARATION Ginger and turmeric is normally cultivated in slopes and terrains under the shade of some trees. The land is normally not ploughed but just holed and dug up to 6 to 7 inches for the seed to be buried inside. Very few farmers added manure of animal dung to the crop while the rest just leave it as it is. There are no proper irrigation facilities to retain the water content during the rainy season, thus leaving the crop to absorb as much water as ossible during the rainy season and dried throughout the rest of the months. d) SELECTION OF SEED After the harvest is done, rhizomes which are large, healthy, free from any injury spots and more buds are selected to be stored as seed. The seeds in the case of turmeric are simply stored under the shade above the ground and normally very few infections would occur on turmeric seed, whereas in the case of ginger it is more complicated as the seed is normally infected with fungus and budding usually takes place before the sowing season.The method of storage is traditional in practice as the seed is stored under a pit dug below the ground and simply covered with a thin layer of soil thus attracting moisture and fungus to infect the seed. There are many cases in which farmers have complained that the seed gets spoiled before the sowing season starts. e) PLANTING Planting is usually done in the month of April to May just at the start of the rain. The rhizomes are planted in about 6 inches apart from each other and 6 to 8 inches deep and then covered with soil. During plantation the rhizomes are broken and make sure that they at least have 4 to 6 bud ding sprouts.The turmeric and ginger is normally cultivated along some other vegetables in the field such as beans, maize and pumpkin. f) HARVEST The harvest is done in when the crop attains maturity, the sign given by the death of the stem and leaves. It usually starts from early November and goes till the end of January. The seed is normally left till end of February to attain maximum maturity. Farmers also sometimes look at the market demand and when they know that there is a demand for the product in the market, they normally harvest the crop as and when required. ) MARKETING The marketing of ginger and turmeric usually happens in weekly local markets which are near to the villages and sometimes at Iewduh, in Shillong. Commission agents, middle men and traders purchase the products at a wholesale rate from local markets and then sort out and grade the lot according to the quality and packed them in gunny bags to be transported outside the state. In case of turmeric, trade happen s mostly as a dry material in the form of slices or in powder, whereas in case of ginger trade happens at the raw or fresh ginger state.Thus we can see that the middlemen control the market of ginger and turmeric in the whole state. h) COSTING 1) Cultivation-(umsalait) For 1 hectare land, they need around 10 people for 60 days and labour cost is Rs 200/day. (a) Labour 10 x 60 = 600 (b) Labour Cost 600 x 200 = Rs 1,20,000 (c) Seed Cost Rs 30 x 2000kg = Rs Rs 60,000 ————————————————————————– DIRECT TOTAL COST = Rs 1, 80,000The production from 2000kg seed is around 5 tonnes. And the cost of raw turmeric is Rs 30/kg PRODUCTION OUTPUT= 30 x 5000 = Rs 1, 50,000 Therefore we can see that the expenditure exceeds sale, thus instead of benefitting from the agricultural activity, the farmers are suffering losses, which th ey cannot understand as there is no costing method being followed. 2) Processing-(laskein) Cost of raw turmeric is Rs 30/kg. if 100kg is taken for processing, then cost of procuring raw turmeric will be Rs 3000. kg of raw turmeric when dried will produce only 1kg. Therefore 100kg will produce 17kg of dried turmeric. a) Cost of dried turmeric = 3000 / 17kg = Rs 176/kg b) Other Indirect Cost = Rs 100/kg (sorting, washing, drying, slicing, grinding, packaging, transportation, electricity bills and other miscellaneous fee) ___________________________________________________________ TOTAL COST PER KG = Rs 276SELLING PRICE OF 1kg POWDERED TURMERIC = Rs 250 Thus over here we can also see expenditure exceeds sale which results in a loss for the farmers. From the above analysis, it can be concluded that there is a need to reduce the DIRECT COST and to increase the Seed to Production Output in order to generate higher revenue. Interventions like introduction of power tillers, is not feasible because the cultivated areas are located in far away terrain and slopes, which are not motorable. ORGANIC PRACTICES AND SCOPE OF CERTIFICATIONAs the method of cultivation in the whole state is mostly organic in nature and with the awareness on importance of organic certification that organic products fetches a premium price in the market, there is a need to promote and to create awareness among the farmers to opt for organic certification so as to increase their income from selling their products. While discussing with various farmers, it is found out that organic farming, although practiced, is mostly done using traditional methods which consist mainly of slash and burn and composting.However, the â€Å"slash and burn† method is not considered as organic method because it kills the microbes which fertilize the field. Also, they have no access or awareness about organic pesticides like Trichogramma which is available from the State Biological Control Laboratory in Shillong. And Trichoderma which is use mainly for Ginger and Turmeric is still in the testing stage and will be available shortly. Some of the reasons that the farmers have not under gone organic certifications are mentioned below- 1) No awareness about organic certifications and its potential. ) The farmers have not received any training methods regarding organic farming. 3) They are also not aware of the market and its demand for organic products. 4) The certification process is quite long which takes up to three years. On top of that, the certificate has to be renewed every year. 5) It is also quite expensive. PROBLEMS FACED BY THE FARMERS/ PRODUCERS AT PRODUCTION LEVEL 1) Low yield of the horticultural crops in which the ratio is 1:2. ) Prevalence of bacterial and fungal infections which affect both stem rot as well as root rot 3) Unsuitable farming practices with poor drainage system to retain water 4) Very seldom crop rotation to replenish soil nutrients 5) Jhum cultivation in which the soil microorganisms died in the process 6) No organic manure is being given to the crops 7) There is no treatment of the seed before sowing 8) There is no capacity building measures being taken to tackle infections and other diseases.POST HARVESTING AND PROCESSING ASPECTS 1) 99% of the farmers sell ginger as a raw produce while turmeric is often converted to dry slices or at times into powder form but at a lower scale. 2) The market is being dominated by the middle men 3) There is no system of grading the ginger based on size and quality 4) The seed to be stored is not harvested at the right time so as it is mature enough to resist spoilage and not properly dried to resist fungal infection 5) Lack of knowledge and training how to store the seed ) Lack of knowledge regarding value addition activities which will fetch a premium price 7) Lack of appropriate technology and infrastructure in many aspects of modern storage. SUGGESTIONS FOR TRAINING/MBDA INTERVENTION CULTIVATION LEVEL 1) Treatment of the seed with organic chemicals such as Trichoderma, one day before sowing to control any seed infection later on. 2) Use of organic compost manure to increase the yield and productivity 3) Proper inter-culture activities from month to month ) Digging of horizontal drain-like pit of about ? ft depth perpendicular to the cultivation rows in terrain areas for water and manure retention. 5) Training in capacity building measures to tackle infections and diseases of both root and stem. 6) Practicing rotation cultivation of turmeric and ginger with leguminous plants on a yearly basis to replenish the nitrogen content of the soil 7) The seed which has to be stored needs to be harvested when it has matured. POST HARVESTING ) Grading and segregating the harvest if needed 2) Proper drying of the seed for a week under the shade to avoid moisture content in order to prevent fungus infection during storage. 3) Modern method of storage to maintain the health and freshness of the see d, by digging a hole up to 1 ? ft deep inside the ground and covered with lumps of soil up to 1 ft height and then plaster with a thin layer of wet mud to prevent entry of moisture. 4) Costing method should be taught. 5) Record keeping and internal assessment. ) Awareness of the importance of value addition process post harvesting. 7) Exposure visit. 8) The officers at various levels in District headquarters should play a pro-active role in imparting training and looking at various aspects where there could be an intervention. CONCLUSION In both cases of Turmeric and Ginger, there is hardly any value addition that is being done in the State. Middlemen control the market and influenced the fluctuation in price of both these items.In the case of Ginger alone, except for a meager percentage which gets converted into Ginger Candy at Regional Resource Training Centre (RRTC), Umran and North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd (NERAMAC), Byrnihat, there is no other val ue addition activity being practiced in the State. The whole amount of raw ginger is being packed into sacks of gunny bags of 40kgs and transported directly to Guwahati and Kolkata, thus we are deprived of the real value of what ginger could have fetched if proper knowledge, skills and machineries are being set up for value addition activities within the state.Whereas in terms of Turmeric, people are more aware of the better price which powder turmeric fetches in the market. Beside few turmeric processing units at the village level which were set up by Self Help Groups (SHG) at the cluster or village level, such as one at Laskein Block in West Jaintia Hills and smaller individual Grinding units at Shangpung and Laitkor, there are many small entrepreneurs who take their produce of dry turmeric to grind at any of these grinding units and sell at local markets as well as in the main market, Iewduh in Shillong.Of what we observed, most of the farmers involved in cultivation of turmeric and ginger, are women which comprises of around 70 percent workforce, the men are usually involve during ploughing activity which is more related to strength but as soon as the sowing season started they shifted to other kinds of works or migrated to other villages in search of work. Thus there is a lot desired and to be done in order to improve livelihood security through integration in growth value chains and market linkages in Meghalaya. ______________________________________________________________________