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FEMINIZATION OF INDIAN AGRICULTURE

The term ‘Feminization of agriculture’ in simple terms referees to the method of increasing participation of women in agricultural activities and its allied works. It can also be interpreted as an increase in the total percentage of women who are economically involved in the agricultural sector working either as self-employed or as agriculture wage workers or unpaid family workers. It can be consequently related to an increase in the percentage of women in the agricultural labor force with respect to male counterparts. Thus, it can be summarised as the extent to which women define, control and enact the processes of agricultural activities. In the present world, the participation of both men and women in agriculture has declined, but the rate of decline has been faster and higher amongst men than it has among women .Decline amongst women has been witnessed specifically in relation to their roles as cultivators, whereas, their numbers as agricultural laborers have increased. The Agriculture Census (2010-11) reflects that out of the estimated 118.7 million cultivators, 30.3% were female farmers. On the same footing, out of an estimated 144.3 million agricultural laborers, 42.6% were females. As per the facts and figures of Census 2011, there has been a 24% increase in the number of female agricultural laborers between 2001 and 2011. Also, according to Census 2011, out of total female main workers, 55% were working as agricultural laborers and 24% cultivators.   In such scenario the role of Women in Agriculture and Allied Activities must be analysed. Rural women are engaged in agricultural and allied activities in three different ways depending on their respective socio-economic status. They are work as:  

  • Agricultural Labourers.
  • Cultivator doing labour on their own land.
  • Managers of certain features of agricultural production.
The functions and agricultural activities performed by women include  Sowing, transplanting, weeding the field,  irrigation of farm, plant protection, harvesting, winnowing, storing, Cattle management, fodder collection, milking etc. Women play an important and irreplaceable role in agricultural development, by ensuring food security to all and preserving local agro-biodiversity. Rural women are also important for the wise, integrated management and use of diverse natural resources to meet the daily household needs. It is also important to look at the causes of Feminization of Indian Agriculture. In thus Poverty,  is a major factor due to which many women are forced to work as agricultural labourers to supplement the family’s income by their earnings. Women also work as unremunerated workers in family fields and households. Another factor is, agrarian distress and changing in nature of work of men. Agrarian distress is a influential factor for disruption of farm labour  migration of males from agriculture towards casual work.  With rising shift of men from farm to non-farm activities, women have been involved in agricultural and allied activities. According to the Economic Survey of 2017-18, with growing rural to urban migration by their male counterparts, there has been ‘feminisation’ of agriculture sector.   In fact, there has been an overall increase in participation of women as cultivators, laborers and entrepreneurs.  With increased mechanization of agriculture, men have moved to other non-farm activities today while the status of women had not changed. They have been further confined to traditional roles such as winnowing, harvesting, weeding farms, sowing seeds and rearing livestock. The upward mobility of women for employment as of now is restricted and is further constrained by variations in wages and payments. As per Census, about 33.7% of rural males migrate to urban areas for reasons of employment and better economic opportunities. But if we look at the case of females, its totally different, it is as low as 3.6% for rural females. What are the issues relating to the Feminization of agriculture? 1) Access to land: Lack of access to land is the major challenge faced by women in Indian agriculture. They are not the property owners in rural India which weakens their position. 2). Access to credit: A lack of ownership of land does not allow women farmers to approach banks for institutional loans as banks usually ask land as collateral. Thus, access to loans is denied indicating the failure at financial inclusion. 3) Access to agricultural inputs: if we compare men and women, women generally have less access to the required resources to make farming more productive and efficient. 4)  Access to technology: Mechanization of agriculture has resulted in confinement of women in low paying traditional works, as most of the work is done by machines. Further, most farm machinery is difficult and cumbersome for women to operate. 5) Access to education and training:: Access to education, agricultural training and extension services for women has been generally low as compared to men. 6) Managing different roles: In addition to intensive and tiring work on the farm all day, women are also expected to fulfill domestic obligations like cooking, child rearing, water collection, fuelwood gathering, household maintenance, unlike male counterparts. 7) Wage: Despite more work for tiring longer hours when compared to male farmers, women farmers have lower wage rates which at times remain unpaid. 8)Marketing: Small and marginal farmers of India generally lack adequate access to marketing facilities due to lack of basic infrastructures like market yards, roads and transportation, and cold storage and presence of middlemen. Additional constraints for women include isolation, lack of digital and financial literacy, knowledge and information. Further, women have no representation in agricultural marketing committees of the area and other similar bodies. 9) Feminization of poverty: Women lack viable livelihood alternatives or any other career prospects and are forced to undertake farm activities that have been left by men due to agrarian distress. 10) Violence: Violence and sexual harassment at the workplace is another major issue faced by women agricultural labors and cultivators in India which mostly goes unreported. This situation is alarming. 11) Health and Occupational Hazards: Women face health hazards in the cultivation of many crops and plantations due to lack of proper training, lack of protective gears and long working hours. They also lack nutritional security which further perpetuates health issues. The government has defined at least 30% of the budget allocation for women beneficiaries in all ongoing government schemes/programmes and development activities. Women-centric activities or policies have been started to ensure the benefits of various beneficiary-oriented programs/schemes reach them, which are directly transferred. The government has been focusing on women self-help group (SHG) to connect them to micro-credit or loan facility by various capacity building measures and to provide information and ensuring their representation in important decision-making bodies. Since most farmers including women farmers are marginal farmers, the government has proposed that cropland holdings must be consolidated and not fragmented to reap the benefits of modern day interventions in farming. A gender analysis for understanding the variations is important for development policies and programs. There is an urgent need for ‘inclusive transformative agricultural policy’ aimed at the gender-specific interventions and measures. The government should ensure access to secure land and property rights to women. A formal access to land will help increase productivity by facilitating investments and would ensure household food security and nutrition. Provision of credit or loans without any collateral under the micro-finance initiative of the NABARD should be encouraged. The training of rural women to help them adopt modern agricultural techniques and innovations that are suited to local conditions and that use natural resources in a sustainable manner. Krishi Vigyan Kendras in every district might also be assigned an additional task to educate and train women farmers and agricultural laborers about innovative technology and also the extension services. Thus, It is important to have gender-friendly tools and mechanization for various farm operations. Manufacturers should be incentivized and motivated to come up with more women-friendly machinery. Legal measures and aids should be taken to ensure equal pay for work of equal value, thereby inculcating equality. Women should be made aware to help them negotiate equal wages so that they are not exploited. Women organizations and unions can play an important role in this. To achieve the full economic benefit and freedom by any employment, rural women should be provided a greater choice over their occupations so that they are not forced to do the work left behind by men. They must have several alternatives. It is thus important to have overall women empowerment through education, mass awareness, social and financial inclusion and doing away with gender biases.


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