Anthropometric data of female farm workers from north eastern India and design of hand tools of the hilly region

An anthropometric survey was carried out for female agricultural workers of two north eastern (NE) hill states of India, namely Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. For this three tribes from Arunachal Pradesh, viz. Adi, Apatani and Nishi and one Mizo tribe from Mizoram were selected. The age group of subjects ranged 18-60 years. Altogether 400 subjects were selected and 76 body dimensions as identified by All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Human Engineering and Safety in Agriculture (HESA) were precisely measured and recorded from each subject. Data so collected were statistically analysed and also compared with those of American, British, Chinese, Egyptian, Japanese, Korean, Mexican and Taiwanese female workers. From these data, it appears that values of body dimensions of tribal female workers from two NE states of India are lesser than those of eight other countries mentioned above. In stature, Indian women are shorter by 9.27cm as compared to American women. The data as obtained are intended to be used for the design/design modifications of agricultural hand tools/implements/machinery with a view to reduce drudgery and at the same time increase efficiency, safety and comfort of operators in hill agriculture. Hence an attempt was made to illustrate the relevance of these data in the design of a handle of hand tools from ergonomic considerations. Relevance to industry In India female agricultural workers constitute 50.2% of the total agricultural work force. But not much of information is available reaarding their anthropometric data. Therefore, a study was undertaken to collect anthropometric data to be used in the design and/or design modification of agricultural tools, machinery and equipment to be operated by female workers in the hilly region of the country. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.