Agriculture

KEY POINTS

·         The ‘feminisation of agriculture’ is picking up pace in India.

·         According to Oxfam India, women are responsible for about 60-80% of food production and 90% of dairy production.

·         The Agriculture Census (2010-11) shows that out of an estimated 118.7 million cultivators, around 30% were females.

·         Similarly, out of around 144 million agricultural labourers, nearly 42% were females.

Problems and Solutions

·         Credits – Women farmers are unable to approach banks for institutional loans as banks usually consider land as collateral.

·         Provision of credit under the micro-finance initiative of the NABARD without collateral should be encouraged.

·         Land ownership – The biggest challenge is the powerlessness of women in terms of claiming ownership of the land they have been cultivating.

·         The foremost task for sustenance of women's presence in farming is to assign property rights in land.

·         Also, the possibility of collective farming can be encouraged to make women self-reliant.

·         Pay – Women receive differential prices for the products they sell in markets and in terms of daily wages, they are often paid less than their male counterparts for the same work, which needs redressal.

·         Machinery – Most farm machinery is difficult for women to operate.

·         It is thus important to have gender-friendly tools and machinery for various farm operations. Manufacturers should be incentivised to come up with better solutions.

·         Training – The agricultural extension workers are predominantly male in Indian agriculture and given the importance of such services, it is necessary to make it gender-neutral.

·         Resources – When compared to men, women generally have less access to resources and modern inputs (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides).

·         Equalising access to productive resources could increase agricultural output in developing countries by as much as 2.5% to 4%.

Road to future

·         Women with access to secure land, formal credit and access to market have greater propensity in making investments.

·         This helps in improving harvest, increasing productivity, and improving household food security and nutrition, across the world.

·         Therefore, the paradox “high participation but limited benefits to women farmers” first needs to be acknowledged and then consciously addressed by re-framing policies and developmental interventions in a way that gives women an equal chance within this sector. 

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