Feminization of agriculture in India: women development and empowerment

Abstract

The agriculture sectors are the largest sector to provide employment to rural women. In recent years, most of the policy attention has been drawn by the phenomenon of increasing feminization of agriculture. It is the phenomenon where the roles of men and women are unbalanced whether at household or community level. The increasing proportion of farm work in India undertaken by women – a phenomenon commonly referred to as the feminization of agriculture has a deep and wide-ranging impact on agricultural productivity. The drift towards the increased number of women participations in agricultural production appears to be associated with a variety of factors, such as male rural out migration, the growing number of households headed by women and the development labour-intensive cash crops. The actual reasons for feminization of agriculture are poverty and farmer suicide, restricted mobility of women, male labour out migration, mechanization of agriculture, agrarian distress and shift of men to casual work, male labour outmigration. Major constraints faced by women are access to land, water, credit and other agricultural inputs, technology, new practices and extension services and education. Without establishing gender equality, development of a nation cannot take place. In order to ensure mainstreaming of women in agriculture sector government has taken several measures. Providing access to education, extension services, information, land, credit facilities, resources, modern technologies and other relevant agricultural innovations will entice many women to agricultural productions and will help to reduce poverty among women farmers.