Helping the invisible hands of agriculture (Challenges women farmers face & solutions)

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Helping the invisible hands of agriculture (Challenges women farmers face & solutions)

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• October 15: It is celebrated as 

1. International Day of Rural Women (by UN)
2. National Women Farmer's Day (Rashtriya Mahila Kisan Diwas) in India

• Govt. recognises it: From 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture decided to celebrate it, given the role women play at all stages - from sowing to planting, drainage, irrigation, fertilizer, plant protection, harvesting, weeding and storage. But much more is needed than merely paying lip-service to their cause.
• Contribution of women: 60-80% of our food is owed to women, and 90% of dairy production. They contribute in crop cultivation and livestock management too. Not much govt. training has been given at scale, for poultry, apiculture and rural handicrafts etc.
• Agri Census 2010-11: It showed that of the 11.87 crore cultivators, 30.3% were females. Of the 14.43 cr agri labourers, 42.6% were females.
• Agri Census 2015-16: Of the 14.6 cr operational holdings, females hold 13.8% or 2 crore (1% increase in 5 years). Overall, "feminisation of agriculture" is happening. But female farmers are nowhere to be seen in farmer organisations, or in protests. They are invisible.
• Land ownership problems: Women are not able to claim lands they cultivate. Due to patriarchy, 86% of women farmers are devoid of property rights in land. So bank loans are ruled out (property as collateral)
• How to improve the women farmers' lot? ACTION PLAN - (1) Improving productivity: When women have secure land, formal credit, and access to market, they will invest more in improving harvest and productivity. We need to improve credit under the "without-collateral credit micro-finance initiative of NABARD".
• ACTION PLAN - (2) - Shrinking holdings : Since majority of farmers now are small and marginal ones (< 2 ha of land, and many women farmers) we must encourage collective farming to make them self-reliant. Training by SHGs is needed (Saras in Rajasthan, Amul in Gujarat).
• ACTION PLAN - (3) - Gender friendly tools and machinery for farm operations is needed as women put in far more labour (due to additional familial work) but machinery is hard for them to operate. Women do more work and put in longer hours, but their claim on output and higher wage rate is never honoured.
• ACTION PLAN - (4) - Equalise access for women farmers to modern inputs like seeds, fertilizers and pesticides etc. The FAO claims it can augment agri output in developing nations by upto 4%.
• Make them hold the property: As more women farmers become primary earners and owners of land assets, acceptance will grow and they will acquire more loans, decide which crops to grow and become real farmers in our society.
• Summary : It is time to recognise the contributions of women farmers in Indian agricultural story, as their role is humongous and important.

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