GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURE

8/7/2019 GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURE

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GENDER DISCRIMINATIONy Discrimination is a sociological term referring to the

treatment taken toward or against an individual of a

certain group in consideration based solely on class orcategory.

y Socially constructed differences in roles, tasks, power(control), opportunities and responsibilities between

men and women.



AGRICULTUREy A griculture in India is the backbone of the country

and is regarded as the largest sector of the countrys

economic activity. A

bout 80% of the Indian populationeither directly or indirectly depend on agriculture.



Womens role in agricultureR ural women who work in the farm participate in a wide range of farm activities as well as take care of the

home and children, thereby performing a dual rolethat of a homemaker and of a partner in the farmingactivities outside the home. But the women hands areinvisible even to this day, so it is not surprising that theagricultural extension activities is mainly a maleoriented pursuit.



Multi-Dimensional Role of Women(i) A griculture : Sowing, transplanting, weeding,

irrigation, fertilizer application, plant protection,

harvesting, winnowing, storing etc.

(ii) Domestic: Cooking, child rearing, water collection,fuel wood gathering, household maintenance etc.

(iii) A llied A ctivities: Cattle management, foddercollection, milking etc.



R ural women are engaged in agricultural activities inthree different ways depending on the socio-economicstatus of their family and regional factors. They are

work as:(i) Paid Labours,

(ii) Cultivator doing labour on their own land

(iii) Managers of certain aspects of agricultural

production by way of labour supervision and theparticipation in post harvest operations.



A griculture 1981 Census 1991 Census

Cultivators 14.8 21.5

A griculture Labours 20.8 28.2

Women Workers in A griculture (Million)

A ctivity Involvement (Percentage)

Land preparation 32Seed cleaning and sowing 80

Inter cultivation activities 86

Harvesting-reaping, winnowing, drying,cleaning and storage

84

Share of Farm Women in Agricultural Operations



OBSTACLES y no contracts of employment (even short term)

y little information about their rights or terms and

conditions of employmenty They face high levels of work insecurity, even if they

work regularly for the same producer for years.

y Wages (often paid on a piece rate) can vary on a day by

day or week by week basis, depending on seasonaldemand.



y

Casual and contract agricultural workers rarely receive their pro rate legal entitlements, such ashealth or social insurance, and compensation for work related injury is often avoided.

y Because of their insecurity, workers fear makingany complaint, or joining a union, in case they loseaccess to work

y Women often fall pray to verbal abuse and sexual

harassment by male supervisors

y safety procedures in relation to the handling of pesticides and chemicals are often lax or violated.



y

Women involved in agriculture inS

outh A

sia also faceobstacles in accessing markets and lack appropriateknowledge and information about them. One of theconstraints women face is cultural, particularly socialnorms, which values female seclusion and prevents

them from marketing their products directly.

y A dditionally, the low status of women in the regioncan undermine their ability to provide food, generateincome and ensure adequate nutrition for themselvesand their children.



MORE WORK, LESS PAYy The estimates for changes in the last 5-7 years show

declines in employment ranging from 20 % to as

much as 77 %.

y Employment in agriculture is available for fewer daysper year.

y The Indian Labour journal showed that womenreceived 75 per cent of mens earnings.



Trade union and State Wage rate for adultmen

Wage rate for women

Haryana R s. 50-60 R s. 25-30

Uttar Pradesh R s. 60 R s. 35-40

West Bengal R s. 40 R s. 25

A ndhra Pradesh R s. 40-50 R s. 25-30

Male/female wage rates in Indian agriculture

(6 hours of work)



THE FIGURES SPEAKSy In the Indian Himalayas a pair of bullocks works 1064

hours, a man 1212 hours and a woman 3485 hours in a

year on a one-hectare farm.

y 48% of Indias self-employed farmers are women.

y There are 75 million women engaged in dairying asagainst 15 million men and 20 million in animalhusbandry as compared to 1.5 million men.



GLOBAL RESPONSESy A ll forms of violence against women, physical and

mental, whether at domestic or societal levels,

including those arising from customs, traditions oraccepted practices shall be dealt with effectively with a view to eliminate its incidence.

y Media will be used to portray images consistent with human dignity of girls and women. ThePolicy will specifically strive to remove demeaning,degrading and negative conventional stereotypicalimages of women and violence against women.



y National and State Councils will be formedto oversee the operationalisation of the Policy on aregular basis. The National Council will be headedby the Prime Minister and the State Councils by the Chief Ministers

y National and State R esource Centres on women will be established with mandates for collectionand dissemination of information, undertakingresearch work, conducting surveys, implementingtraining and awareness generation programmes,etc

y women will be helped by Government through itsprogrammes, to organize and strengthen into Self-Help Groups (SHGs)



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GENDER ISSUES IN AGRICULTURE