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India has a variety of crops grown in irrigated and rainfed areas. Rice, wheat, jowar, maize and bajra are the major food grains. Oilseed, sugarcane, cotton and jute are the important cash crops. Likewise, tea and coffee are important plantation crops. India's agricultural production systems also include a wide range of horticultural crops. Rice is widely grown in Southern, Eastern and Northeastern states. Wheat is mainly grown in Punjab and Haryana. Jowar and Bajra are important food grains in dry land areas. Assam and West Bengal are famous for tea, whereas Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are coffee and coconut producing states.
Women’s involvement varies widely among different regions, ecological sub zones, farming system, caste, class and stages in the family cycle. Generally, Women have extensive workloads with dual responsibility for many of the farm operations and household management (fetching water, cooking and taking care of children).
- In the highly diversified Indian context, no simple gender division of labour exists with regard to crop production.
- Farm women perform farm operations which are full of drudgery such as transplanting, weeding, winnowing, shelling, decorticating, milling etc.,
- Women provide one half of the labour in rice cultivation in India.
- In the plantation sector women are the crucial labourers.
- In certain areas in India, women play a key role as seed selectors and in seedling production.
- Depending on the region and crops, women's contributions vary but they provide pivotal labour from planting to harvesting and post-harvest operations.
- In general, women in tribal households enjoy more decision-making power than women in many other Indian households because of their greater contribution to household income.
- Their knowledge on seeds and seed storage contribute to the viability of the agricultural diversity and production.
- Women prepare and apply green and farmyard manure.
- As integrated pest management practices are introduced, it could be expected that women's work will increase due to more labour-intensive activities.
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