Economic quantification of women’s work in farming system: A case study of western plain zone of Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

Women play substantial roles in farming systems and are vigorously involved in farm and livestock management, but their contribution in farming systems is generally overlooked and undervalued which has reflected them as invisible workers. Considering the importance of women’s role in farming systems, the present study was conducted to study the extent of work performed by women in pre-dominant farming systems of western plain zone of Uttar Pradesh (WPZ). A total of 60 farm women were selected as respondents through random sampling technique. The results of study reveals that the farm women spent their maximum time (2204 hr) in livestock management activities amongst which fodder collection (574 hrs)was found the most time consuming activity. In crop production, maximum time was spent in detrashing and detopping (290-276 hr) of sugarcane followed by weeding activities (104 hr). Hoeing and weeding (198 hr) were found most time consuming activitiy amongst horticulture.The farm women found solely engaged in household, post-harvest management and processing activities. The status of farm women reported to be low due to her limited access to economic resources, viz. agricultural land, animals, income from farm etc. The study has shown that on an averagea farm woman contributes nearly 5232 hr annually in the pre-dominant farming systems as family worker which has an estimated economic value worth ` 10,104,6 whereas, the farm women working as hired labourers contribute 1656 hours annually receives ` 33,007 which is 14 to 35% less than the government wage rate.