FEMINIZATION OF AGRICULTURE

FEMINIZATION OF AGRICULTURE

The term “Feminization of agriculture” refers to increasing participation of women in agricultural activities .It can be interpreted in following ways:

·         An increase in the percentage of women who are economically active in agricultural sector either as self employed or as agriculture wage workers or unremunerated family workers.

·        An increase in the percentage of women in agricultural labor force relative to men either because of more women are working or because of fewer men are working in agriculture.

·        The extent to which women define control and enact the processes of agriculture.

Women in Indian agriculture statistics:

·        Participation of both men and women in agriculture has declined but the rate of decline has been faster among than it has among women.

·        Decline among women has been specifically in relation to their roles as cultivators; however their numbers as agricultural laborers have increased.

·        According to census 2011, there has been a 24% increase in the number of female agricultural laborers between 2001 and 2011.

·        As per census 2011, out of total female main workers 55% were agricultural labors and 24% cultivators.

Role of women in agriculture and allied activates:

Rural women are engaged in agricultural activities in three different ways depending on the social economic status:

·        Agricultural labors

·        Cultivator doing  labor on their own land

·        Managers of certain aspects of agricultural production by way of labor supervision and the participation in post harvest operations.

Functions performed:

Agricultural activates:    Sowing, transplantating, weeding, irrigation, fertilizer application, plant protection, harvesting, winnowing, storing etc.

Allied activates: Cattle management, fodder collection, milking etc.

                Women play an important role in agricultural development in ensuring food security and     preserving local agro biodiversity. Rural women are also responsible for the integrated management and use of diverse natural resources to meet the daily household needs.

Causes of feminization of Indian agriculture:

Poverty:

          Poverty is the major factor due to which women are forced to work as agricultural laborers to supplement the family’s income. Women also work as unremunerated workers in family fields.

Agrarian distress and shift of men to casual work:

            Agrarian distress is a predominant factor for disruption of farm labor or de pesantataization i.e.; migration of males from agriculture toward casual work with rising shift of men from farm to nonfarm activates women have got absorbed in agricultural and allied activities.

Migration to urban areas:

                          According to the economic survey 2017-2018 with growing rural to urban migration by men there has been “feminization” of agricultural sector, there has been an increase in participation of women as cultivators, labors and entrepreneurs.

Mechanization of agriculture:

                           With increased mechanization of agriculture, men have moved to other nonfarm activities while women have been confined to traditional roles such as winnowing, harvesesting, sowing seeds and rearing livestock.

Mobility:

                  The upward mobility of women for employment is restricted and is further constrained by gender wage differentials.

Issues:

Access to credit:

                     A lack of ownership of land does not allow women farmers to approach bank for institutional loans as banks usually consider land as collateral.

Access to agricultural inputs:

                      When compared to men women generally have less access to resources and modern inputs.

Health and occupational hazards:

                          Women face health hazards in the cultivation of many crops and plantations due to lack of training lack of protection gears and long working hours. Lack of nutritional security further perpetrates health issues.

Government efforts:

                       Recognizing the crucial role of women in agriculture and farmers welfare has declared 15^th October of every year as women farmer’s day. The government has earmarked at least 30% of the budget allocation for women beneficiaries in all ongoing schemes/programmers and development activates.

Way forward:

         Provision of credit without collateral under the micro finance initiative of the NABARD should be encouraged. Legal measures should be taken to ensure equal pay for work of equal value. Women should be made aware to help them negotiate equal wages and women organizations and unions can play important role in this.

 Conclusion:

                  An inclusive transformative agricultural policy should aim at gender specific interventions to raise productivity of small farm holdings, integrate women as active agents in rural transformation and engage men and women in extension services with gender expertise.

                                                                                             ESSAY by DEGA RAMYA TULASI