Role of Women in Indian Agriculture

By

Prof. Vinod Malkar  Sanjivani Rural Education Society,

College of Engineering, Dept. of MBA,Kopargaon, Dist: Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India

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CONTENTS• About India• Indian Agriculture• Indian Women• Role of Women in Indian

Agriculture .

Location of India in World Map

India

National Symbols of India

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Truth Alone Triumphs

About India

National Anthem - Jana Gana Mana National Bird – Peacock National Animal – Tiger National Language – Hindi Independence Day – 15th August Republic Day – 26th January

About India 5,000 year old civilization 325 languages spoken 18 official languages 28 states, 7 union territories 3.28 million sq. kilometers - Area 7,516 kilometers - Coastline 1,210,193,422 population (2011 Census)Parliamentary form of Government Secular democratic constitution

About India

Worlds largest democracy since 55 years 4th largest economy Fastest growing IT super power Indian Railways ,the biggest employer in the world

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Indian Agriculture- Some Facts

• Total Geographical Area - 328 million hectares

• Net Area sown - 142 million hectares

• Gross Cropped Area – 190.8 million hectares

• Major Crop Production (1999-2000)» Rice 89.5 million tonnes

» Wheat 75.6 million tonnes

» Coarse Cereals 30.5 million tonnes

» Pulses 13.4 million tonnes

» Oilseeds 20.9 million tonnes

» Sugarcane 29.9 million tonnes

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Indian Agriculture- Some Facts

• Contributes to 24% of GDP• Provides food to 1Billion people• Sustains 65% of the population : helps

alleviate poverty• Produces 51 major Crops• Provides Raw Material to Industries• Contributes to 1/6th of the export earnings• One of the 12 Bio-diversity centers in the

world with over 46,000 species of plants and 86,000 species of animals recorded

Major Achievements

India is • Largest producer in the world of

pulses , tea , and milk

• Second Largest producer of fruits, vegetables, wheat , rice, groundnut and sugarcane.

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Indian Agriculture Scenario

STRENGTHS• Rich Bio-diversity• Arable land• Climate• Strong and well dispersed

research and extension system

OPPORTUNITIES• Bridgeable yield crops• Exports• Agro-based Industry• Horticulture• Untapped potential

WEAKNESS• Fragmentation of land• Low Technology Inputs• Unsustainable Water

Management• Poor Infrastructure• Low value addition

THREATS• Unsustainable Resource Use• Unsustainable Regional

Development• Imports

India’s Rural Market• The size of the India’s Rural market covers

two third of countries population and half of the national income comes out of the rural population.

• The country is divided into more than 400 districts and 630,000 villages.

• The size of India’s rural market, stated as the percentage of world population is 12.2%.

• This means 12.2% worlds consumer live in rural India.

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Women In India• The status of women in India has been subject to many great

changes over the past few millennia.• From equal status with men in ancient times through the low

points of the medieval period, to the promotion of equal rights by many reformers,

• The history of women in India has been eventful. In modern India, women have adorned high offices in India including that of the President, Prime minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Leader of the Opposition.

• As of 2012, the President of India, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha (Lower House of the parliament) are all women

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Place of women in Indian society:A (cultural) historical perspective

• The Goddess (Devi)• The mother• The sister• The wife

Indian Women in Modern Times

Categories of employment (2001)

FemaleFemale MaleMale

Agricultural laborerAgricultural laborer 46.3%46.3% 23.0%23.0%

CultivatorCultivator 34.6%34.6% 39.9%39.9%

Household industryHousehold industry 3.5%3.5% 2.1%2.1%

Non-household Non-household industry industry

3.8%3.8% 8.8%8.8%

ServicesServices 8.3%8.3% 10.8%10.8%

Other categoriesOther categories 3.5%3.5% 15.5%15.5%

Role of Women in Indian Agriculture

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Key Facts

• Indian population is 48.1% women and 51.9% men • Female illiteracy is 62% whereas the male illiteracy rate is 34% • The labour force participation rate of women is 22.7%, less than half of the men's rate of 51.6% • In rural India, agriculture and allied industrial sectors employ as much as 89.5% of the total female labour

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Key Facts

• Women have extensive work loads with dual responsibility for farm and household production • Women's work is getting harder and more time-consuming due to ecological degradation and changing agricultural technologies and practices • Women have an active role and extensive involvement in livestock production, forest resource use and fishery processing

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Key facts• Women contribute considerably to

household income through farm and nonfarm activities as well as through work as landless agricultural labourers. • Women's work as family labour is underestimated • There are high degrees of inter-state and intra-state variations in gender roles in agriculture, environment and rural production

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Multi-Dimensional Role of Women

Agriculture : Sowing, transplanting, weeding, irrigation, fertilizer application,plant protection,harvesting, winnowing, storing etc.

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winnowingFertilizer application

Sowing

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Domestic: •Cooking, •child rearing, •water collection, •fuel wood gathering,• household maintenanceetc.

26water collection

child rearing

fuel wood gathering

fuel wood gathering

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Allied Activities:

•Cattle management,• Fodder collection,• Milking etc

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Mainly rural women are engaged in agricultural activities in three different ways depending onthe socio-economic status of their family and regional factors. They are work as:

(i) Paid Labourers

(ii) Cultivator doing labour on their own land and

(iii) Managers of certain aspects of agricultural

production by way of labour supervision and

the participation in post harvest operations.

• Currently in India a paid women labour is getting Rs.100/- to Rs.150/- for six hours i.e. $2 to$3 for Six hours.

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Percentage distribution of workers (main + marginal) according Categories of worker by sex and by sector

during 2001 for India.

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Case StudyThe study was conducted by Nisha N. in 2010

Palakkad district of Kerala state. Palakkad district is the major agricultural district in the state and more than 50 per cent of the total women workforce is employed in agriculture. There are about 317,192 agricultural labourers in the district, of which 156,290 are male agricultural labourers and 160,902 are female agricultural labourers.

A Sample Size 120 has been taken for study and the results are found as

Demographics of women in agriculture

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Economics Women in agriculture

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Women Employment days in a year

National Research Centre for Women in Agriculture (NRCWA).

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The Indian Council of Agricultural Research established the

NRCWA in the month of April 1996 at Bhubaneswar and has

since been upgraded as the Directorate of Research on

Women in Agriculture (DRWA) from the year 2008.

DRWA is carrying out basic, strategic and applied research

on various gender related issues in agriculture and allied

sectors with thematic approach in creating a repository of

gender disaggregated data and documentation; technology

testing and refinement; drudgery assessment and reduction;

gender sensitive extension approach; capacity building of

scientists and functionaries; efficient resource management;

and gender mainstreaming.

Summary• The women is the backbone of agricultural

workforce and are a vital part of Indian economy.

• Over the years, there is a gradual realization of the key role of women in agricultural development and their contribution in the field of agriculture, food security, horticulture, dairy, nutrition, sericulture, fisheries, and other allied sectors.

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Following are the key points,which will help in creating respectable role of women in Indian agriculture

1. Skill empowerment. • By training in the area of various

operations : – i. Field operations – ii. Conservation of biodiversity – iii. Nutritional bio-security – iv. Vocational training – v. Organic farming

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2. Technology development for women Designing of tools for various field

operations b. Animal husbandry i. Artificial insemination. ii. Veterinary knowledge c. For side income i. Mushroom cultivation ii. Floriculture

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3. Creation of self help groups a. For financial support b. For generation of employment

4. Projection of contribution of women by collecting and analysing data

a. Collection and display of data b. Projection of successful women in agriculture c. Representation of their contribution in economic terms 5. Providing Financial Powers a. Giving representation in land holdings

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“India Lives in its Villages” ----- Mahatma Gandhi

Thank You