Women in agriculture in India

[1] In the North, the Indus valley and Brahmaputra region are critical agricultural areas with water supplied by the Ganges and monsoon season.

[2] Women's participation in the agrarian labor force plays out in various ways, impacting their economic independence, their decision-making abilities, their agency and access to education and health services.

Yet India's agricultural profile is shadowed by the controversial impacts of Green Revolution policies that were adopted in the 1960s and 70s with pressure from the United States Agency for International Development and the World Bank.

The Green Revolution brought a modern approach to agriculture by incorporating irrigation systems, genetically modified seed variations, insecticide and pesticide usage, and numerous land reforms.

It had an explosive impact, providing unprecedented agricultural productivity in India and turned the country from a food importer to an exporter.

Intensification of synthetic fertilizer and pesticide inputs leads to a loss in biodiversity which continues to degrade the environmental quality of cultivated land.

[7] India's agricultural sector today still faces issues of efficiency due to lack of mechanization with poorer conditions of farmers, as well as small farm sizes.

In India, traditional agriculture is still dominant as many farmers depend on livestock in crop production, for manure as fertilizers, and the use of animal-powered ploughs.

[9] Women's participation rate in the agricultural sectors is about 47% in tea plantations, 46.84% in cotton cultivation, 45.43% growing oil seeds and 39.13% in vegetable production.

Despite their dominance of the labor force women in India still face extreme disadvantage in terms of pay, land rights, and representation in local farmers organizations.

In India, the typical work of the female agricultural laborer or cultivator is limited to less skilled jobs, such as sowing, transplanting, weeding and harvesting, that often fit well within the framework of domestic life and child-rearing.

According to United Nations Human Development Report only 32.8% of Indian women formally participate in the labor force, a rate that has remained steady since 2009 statistics.

The lack of employment mobility and education render the majority of women in India vulnerable, as dependents on the growth and stability of the agricultural market.

Depending on caste and economic class a woman's role can be determined as one of more in the public eye or predominantly of seclusion; a life in which women are expected to care for children and maintain the household.

The typical rural Indian household is a patriarchal and partilocal one, in which a husband, or in his stead the oldest son will make the decisions for a family.

While some studies in Orissa suggest that organic farming could increase the amount of labor and time spent on agricultural duties for women, more research needs to be done to expand conclusions across India.

In the past couple of years, these trends have made a noticeable impact in India, causing droughts and unpredictable rainfall.

There is Lohri, the harvest festival of Punjab or navadhanya puja, which translates to the worship of nine cereals, celebrations that take place in southern India.

[16] Furthermore, traditional agricultural methods heavily utilized by women subsistence farmers boast environmentally friendly features, such as seed preservation, natural fertilizers and crop rotation techniques that do not exhaust delicate soil.

The widespread chemical pollution in communities that utilize pesticides and herbicides is creating a public health problem, which has disproportionately impacted women.

[22] Cooperatives have been long seen as a social institution providing partnership, solidarity and resources to women farmers as well as tackle gender inequality.

[9] It is an extension of the neoliberal policies posed by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank as developmentally advantageous to India.

Rather it is predicted by a study conducted by the Centre for Trade and Development in 2009, that the EU will benefit at the expense of the small Indian agricultural laborers and farmers.

Furthermore, there is concern about the social impacts of opening up of the Indian market to European Unions agricultural goods such as general and specialty food crops.

Agro processing, the creation of cereals and grains mixtures, in India is a large employer of women workers and strong competition can adversely affect them.

Since initial discussion of the free trade agreement, there has been a major public outcry due to problems, besides those agricultural cited above, that are predicted to arise.

Europe currently waits on India to raise its cap on "FDI by foreign insurance companies from 26 to 49 per cent" and also decrease import duties for luxury items such as cars, wine and spirits.

Pic by Neil Palmer (CIAT). Women farmers at work in their vegetable plots near Kullu town, Himachal Pradesh, India. Previously the area was a major producer of high-value apples, but rising temperatures in the last few decades have forced almost all apple producers there to abandon their crop. For these farmers, switching to vegetable production has resulted in a major boost in incomes and livelihoods, illustrating that climate change adaptation can be effective and highly profitable.
Pic by Neil Palmer (CIAT). Women farmers at work in their vegetable plots near Kullu town, Himachal Pradesh, India. Previously the area was a major producer of high-value apples, but rising temperatures in the last few decades have forced almost all apple producers there to abandon their crop. For these farmers, switching to vegetable production has resulted in a major boost in incomes and livelihoods, illustrating that climate change adaptation can be effective and highly profitable.