Women in Agriculture

Lesson 35 : Women and Drudgery

Meaning

Drudgery is monotonous routine labour that creates stress.

Indicators of Drudgery:

1. Physical stress- Pressure on body parts
2. Physiological stress- Pressure in biological process
3. Psychological stress- Mental pressure and fatigue
4. Knowledge stress- Lack of information to satisfy the needs
5. Economic stress- Unable to procure materials due to low purchasing power
6. Social stress- Lack of support from the society
7. Skill stress - Lack of skills

Drudgery inagricultural operations:

Operation	Man of hours of work	Drudgery
Seedbed preparation, sowing and transplanting	120 per ha	High postural load In puddle and knee deep mud 20-25% higher energy demand than on the dry surface
Weeding and inter- cultivation	15-20% of the total man hours	Postural stress due to continuous sitting and moving on two legs flexed at knee in dry land and stooping in watered lands
Harvesting	10% of total man hours	Cardio respiratory and thermo-regulatory strain
Post harvest – winnowing, raking, shelling, decortications, hulling, peeling, cutting, slicing, fiber extraction etc.,	20% of total man hours, Highly labor intensive	Joint pains, aches, skin and eye allergies.

Example: Energy and expenditure and heart rate during home operations:

Operation	Heart rate	Peak Heart rate	Energy	Pak energy
			expenditure	expenditure
Fetching fuel	140.34	159.6	13.59	16.70
Collection of fodder	118.71	140.98	10.1	13.69
Milking	108.16	129.7	8.2	12.2
Fetching water	96,25	126.3	6.58	11.36

Categorization of farm operations and activities based on severity:

S.No	Farm operations and activities	Work severity
1	Emptying of tractor	Light to moderate
2	Sowing	Light to moderate
3	Transplanting seedling by hand on puddle field	Moderate
4	Weeding using hand tool in bent and squat posture	Heavy to moderate
5	Uprooting seedlings by hand, in suat and bent position	Moderate to heavy
6	Harvesting paddy using sickle	Light to heavy
7	Plucking vegetables	Light to heavy
8	Cutting crops like sugar cane	Light to heavy
9	Load carrying on head (20-25 Kg)	Moderate to extremely heavy
10	Winnowing (squat and stand)	Light to moderate
11	Pounding grain	Moderate to extremely heavy
12	Walking on puddle field	Light to moderate
13	Spreading grains and vegetables on the floor	Moderate to heavy