Women in Agriculture

Lesson 7 : Activities of Women in Agriculture & Allied Sectors

Introduction

Women play a significant and crucial role in agricultural development and allied fields Including in the main crop production, livestock production, horticulture, post harvest operations, agro/social forestry, fisheries, etc. is a fact long taken for granted but also long ignored. Rural Indian women are extensively involved in agricultural activities. However the nature and extent of their involvement differs with the variations in agro production systems. The mode of female participation in agricultural production varies with the land owning status of farm households. Their roles range from managers to landless labourers. In over all farm production, women’s average contribution is estimated at 55% to 66% of the total labour with percentages, much higher in certain regions. 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 hectare farm, a figure that illustrates women’s significant contribution to agricultural production.