Helping the invisible hands of agriculture

Helping the invisible hands of agriculture

News:

1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has proposed deliberations to discuss the challenges that women farmers face in crop cultivation, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries.

Important Facts:

2. The aim of deliberations is to work towards an action plan using better access to credit, skill development and entrepreneurial opportunities.
3. Significance of women labour:

• According to Oxfam India, women are responsible for about 60-80% of food and 90% of dairy production, respectively.
• The work by women farmers, in crop cultivation, livestock management or at home, often goes unnoticed.
• Attempts by the government to impart them training in poultry, apiculture and rural handicrafts is trivial given their large numbers.

4. Challenges that women farmers and labourers face:

• Issue of land ownership:  In Census 2011, almost 86% of women farmers are devoid of this property right in land on account of the patriarchal set up in our society.
• Lack of ownership of land prevent women farmers to approach banks for institutional loans as banks usually consider land as collateral.
• Unrecognised work and low wages: The female cultivators and labourers generally perform labour-intensive tasks e.g. hoeing, weeding, picking, looking after livestock etc. along with handling familial responsibilities.
• Despite more work (paid and unpaid) for longer hours when compared to male farmers, women farmers can neither make any claim on output nor ask for a higher wage rate which is a key factor responsible for their marginalisation.
• Gender-friendly machinery: The farm machinery is difficult for women to operate. Also. compared to men, women generally have less access to resources and modern inputs (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides) to make farming more productive.
• The Food and Agriculture Organisation says that equalising access to productive resources for female and male farmers could increase agricultural output in developing countries by as much as 2.5% to 4% .

5.     Steps to be taken:

• The government flagship schemes such as the National Food Security Mission, Sub-mission on Seed and Planting Material and the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana must include women-centric strategies and dedicated expenditure.
• Farm machinery banks and custom hiring centres promoted by many State governments can be roped in to provide subsidised rental services to women farmers.
• Krishi Vigyan Kendras in every district can be assigned an additional task to educate and train women farmers about innovative technology along with extension services.
• Manufacturers should be incentivised to come up with gender-friendly technology.
• The possibility of collective farming can be encouraged to make women self-reliant.
• Training and skills imparted to women as has been done by some self-help groups and cooperative-based dairy activities.
• For example Saras in Rajasthan and Amul in Gujarat. These can be explored further through farmer producer organisations.

6. Way Forward:

• Listing women farmers as primary earners and owners of land assets will ensue and their activities will expand to acquiring loans, deciding the crops to be grown using appropriate technology and machines, and disposing of produce to traders or in wholesale markets, thus elevating their place as real and visible farmers.
• Moreover in order to sustain women’s interest in farming and also their uplift, there must be a vision backed by an appropriate policy and doable action plans.