Women Farmers

Women in Indian Agriculture

The farmers’ protests have cast a spotlight on a traditionally overlooked group of female farmers.

Role: Women in Indian agriculture perform numerous labour intensive jobs such as weeding, picking, separation of seeds from fibre, keeping of livestock and its other associated activities like milking, etc. Mainly rural women are engaged in agricultural activities in three different ways:

Paid Labourers.
Cultivator doing labour on their own land.
Managers of certain aspects of agricultural production by way of labour supervision and the participation in post harvest operations.

Status: Agriculture Census 2015-16, female operational holdings increased to 14.0 percent in 2015-16 against and 12.8 percent in 2010-11. This indicates rising participation of females in management and/or operation of agricultural holdings in the country, also termed as feminization of agriculture
The proportion of operated area managed by female operational holders has also increased to 11.8 percent in 2015-16 against 10.4 percent in 2010-11.
Food and Agriculture Organization, women constitute a third of India’s agricultural labour force and contribute 55-66% to farm production.
According to non-profit Oxfam, around 80 percent of farm work in India – including sowing, winnowing, harvesting, and other labor-intensive processes and non-mechanized farm occupations – is undertaken by women

Reasons for emerging trend of feminization of Agriculture

Rural to urban migration of male members:With male out-migration, women have additionally taken on the role of providing for their households on a daily basis, since remittances are irregular. This means that they now have to take care of their own farming and also work as agricultural wage labourers.
Cheap and easily available agriculture labour:Women are more willing to accept low-paid irregular work, are easy to hire and fire, are thought to be docile and hardworking, and certain jobs are typified as women’s work such as picking tea.
Agrarian distress: led to a shift of male members to non-farm activities and pushed female members to perform agricultural and allied activities.

Issues faced by Women in Agriculture Sector

Low land and asset ownership: Women lag behind in terms of land and asset ownership, even when acting as primary cultivators. This is largely due to patriarchal social norms and limited awareness about their property rights. Women are also not recognized as farmers in Indian policies.
Lack of entitlement to land (and other assets such as machinery, livestock etc.) is a severe impediment to women cultivators. Land titles are often demanded as security for credit, basis for entitlement of agriculture-related schemes etc.
Wage gap: Women in general are offered lower wages for agriculture labour, especially in informal and private sector.
Lack of supportive infrastructure: Technological interventions and infrastructural facilities in agriculture, in general, are not designed with women farmers in mind.
Absence of decision-making power: Enhanced responsibility has not translated into decision-making powers over important issues such crop selection, division of duties, marketing etc.
Limited to drudgery work: Mechanization of agriculture has resulted in confinement of women to labour intensive and menial roles such as winnowing, harvesting, sowing seeds and rearing livestock.
Illiteracy: Women workers in agriculture suffer from high illiteracy rate and drop-out of schools and have little awareness about the existing schemes, benefits, rights, etc. As a result of this female population engaged in agriculture has poor economic as well social growth.

Steps taken by the Government

Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP): Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development

to empower women in agriculture by making systematic investments to enhance their participation and productivity, as also to create and sustain their agriculture-based livelihoods.

ICAR-Central Institute for Women in Agriculture (ICAR-CIWA): exclusively devoted to gender related research in agriculture.
Additional support in existing schemes: The Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare to female farmers, over and above the male farmers under various Schemes namely Agri-Clinic & Agri-Business Centre (ACABC), Integrated Schemes of Agricultural Marketing (ISAM), Sub-Mission of Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) and National Food Security Mission (NFSM).
Low representation in administrative bodies: Women have no representation in agricultural marketing committees and other similar bodies.

Way Forward

Enhancing representation of women in decision- making bodies: that have the potential to introduce structural changes in agricultural sector.
Agricultural education be made gender sensitive and research, development, extension and services be engendered to give due recognition to the multiple role played by women agriculturists.
Technological advancements in designing tools can play an important role in making farm equipment easy to use for women.
Promoting women SHGs: Women Self Help Groups can be proactively engaged in value addition of agri produce at village level.
In addition, beekeeping, fishery, poultry, animal husbandry have major scope for women farmers and women centric schemes in these sectors can be promoted in consultation with the representatives of women farmers.
Prioritizing women in accessing credit on soft terms from banks and other financial institutions for acquisition of land, assets and agricultural inputs.
Awareness generation among women regarding their inheritance rights coupled with access to judicial relief and redress, removing discrimination through legal reforms, and providing legal aid, assistance and counseling.
Skill development training needs to be delivered to women farmers to train them in areas of field operations, organic farming etc.
Policy emphasis must be to recognise the work of female farmers and grant equal pay to them.

Class Notes 4 You