Surinder Sud: My farm lady

While women are the mainstay of Indian farm and allied sectors, they are far from being the decision makers

It may sound surprising, but the fact is that women, and not men, are the mainstay of Indian agriculture. Their contribution to performing different operations in agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries and even natural resource management seems higher than that of men. All this is in addition to household chores like cooking, arranging for fuel, food and drinking water and managing the household.

Yet, they are least empowered and are denied adequate access and, in most cases, ownership of resources. Nor are they allowed adequate say in decision taking, barring in certain cases. Thus, their role is neither fully recognised nor appreciated and rewarded. This is a serious gender issue, smacking of discrimination against women.

According to the Bhubaneswar-based Directorate of Research on Women in Agriculture (DRWA), the contribution of women in agriculture is far greater in the hilly regions than in the plains. The data collected from nine Himalayan states indicate that women spend 3,485 hours per year on agricultural work, which is more than twice the number of hours put in by men (1,212 hours), and nearly three times by bullocks (1,064 hours).

On the whole, they provide 60-80 per cent of labour in agriculture. Their participation in crop production is 75 per cent, horticulture 79 per cent, livestock rearing 58 per cent and post-harvest operations 51 per cent.

In the country, nearly half of the labour engaged in rice cultivation consists of women. Plantation sector relies crucially on women for most farm operations. In general, they contribute to wide-ranging agricultural operations, including sowing, harvesting, inter-culture (weed removal) and post-harvest drying, cleaning and value-addition of the produce.

Studies have revealed that household chores account for 26 per cent of the working time of rural women. Another 17 per cent time goes to fuel wood collection.

In the horticulture sector, women play an important role in small-scale production of vegetables, fruit and flowers. They also take the produce to weekly markets for sale. Even cumbersome operations like inter-culture and harvesting are done by women in the backyard horticultural farms.

In livestock husbandry, too, women play a significant role, spending between three and six hours a day in tending animals. Tasks like feeding the livestock, milking them, collecting cow dung, cleaning animal sheds and bathing the animals are generally performed by women. However, the ownership of livestock mostly vests with men who also look after the marketing of milk, except in the areas which were earlier covered under Operation Flood, where women are also engaged in the sale of milk to the cooperatives.

In fisheries, most post-harvest and post-catch activities and even some pre-harvest activities, like making and mending of fishing nets, are performed by women.

Even in the forestry sector, which supports a sizable part of the country’s tribal population, women play a vital role. Besides collecting forest produce for fuel and other domestic uses, they also gather wood and other material for commercial activities like making baskets, furniture, other useful products and handicrafts. DRWA director Krishna Srinath maintains that it is very difficult to delineate division of labour on the gender basis in the highly diversified Indian agriculture. Women’s knowledge of seeds and seed storage is a key factor in sustaining the agricultural diversity.

Though women lack access to information and extension services, they often decide which seeds should be planted. In many areas, inter-culture in the fields is an activity reserved exclusively for women. They also apply fertilisers.

However, the status of farm women is not commensurate with the kind of role they play in agriculture and allied sectors as well as in the management of the household. To remedy this, Srinath calls for “gender mainstreaming”, which essentially means incorporation of gender perspective into policies, plans and programmes to ensure that these impact women and men equitably. Besides, the women involved in agriculture need access to resources and appropriate technologies for sustained use of these resources for their betterment.

Indeed, the exposures made by studies are only indicative in nature. What is needed ultimately is the change in the rural male’s perception of, and respect for, women which would come through public education and women’s empowerment.