Women in Agriculture in India Status and Agenda

Sachin Kumar Jain1

Just to set a context, please refer to the these two specific Sustainable Development Goals :
(SDG 2.3) - By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers,
pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and
opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment
(SDG 5a.) - Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of
property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws.
India has also agreed to achieve these global goals, but have we really examined the case of crisis, the case of women in agriculture in India!
In our school days, each one of us must have been asked to write as essay on the subject My Country India or Our Country. Such an essay was a sort of
a religious performance. And as far as I remember, and so I claim that its starting line too was a ritual one: India, my country is an agrarian country.
Even today this much repeated line is holding its prime position. But today, it is in tatters. Despite the fact that out of a working population of 48.17
crore Indians, 26.30 crore Indians are directly dependent on agriculture to eke out their livelihood (Census, 2011), our development-centric policy
proclaims its main objective is to take these working hands out of the farming. The rationale is that the field of agriculture is already overloaded, and
hence people should look elsewhere for opportunities for their livelihoods. This rationale hides five important facts viz. 1. If people start deserting
their farming lands, private companies / corporate houses will get their decisive foot and say in, 2. If the farming community leaves its productive
enterprise, it will have to depend on the forces of market for its basic food security needs, where it will be devoid of any legitimate state protection
for itself and will be left in lurch against the vagaries of contractual existence, 3. Agriculture is a larger sym-biotic system of all things natural, that is:
forest, cattle stock, water sources, plains, mountains, hills etc. If the society itself is taken off from cultivation, the natural resources like minerals etc.
will be left open for an easy exploitation by greedy industrialization, 4. This division of organized-unorganized sectors is not a natural phenomenon
rather a synthetic one, carved out by an ill-fare state intending to expand its jurisdiction by usurping the natural space of agriculture-natural
resources-social enterprise. Such an illegitimate control forcibly renders the organically most-organized sector of the society, unorganized. And on
the other hand, the ubiquitously powerful lobby of corporate and business interest pounces upon to claim the vacuum created by such a sinister
design, and gains the legitimacy of being an organized sector, 5. And finally when the legitimate questions of the employment, livelihood guarantee

1
Sachin Kumar Jain works with Vikas Samvad, Madhya Pradesh. Contact sachinjain.vikassamvad@gmail.com
and job-creations are asked, suddenly controversial statements start erupting, jinn of riots come forth, and thus the original questions of legitimate
and bonafide demand are swept aside, cruelly.
It has not been hunky dory all along in the fields of agriculture. Some important things have been left unsaid, latent there also. We have never
mentioned the seminal role played by our women folk in the enterprise of agriculture and its related activities. Most certainly, our agriculture would
not have sustained thus far without the role played by our women in its domain.

Crisis does not emerge in isolation, unequal work distribution and non-recognition from the gender perspective is the fundamental ingredients in
keeping society on backtrack. The proportion of rural females aged 1529 years who spent their time in domestic duties increased from 54.8 per
cent in 20042005 to 57.5 per cent in 20112012, while the proportion for the 3044 year age group increased from 52.5 to 65.8 per cent during this
period. In other words, in the economically active age group (1564 years), 151.9 million and 81.8 million females were outside the labour force in
the rural and urban areas, respectively, in 201120122.

Unequal distribution of labour and the blight of gender bias

In India, 84% population of the total working women earns its livelihood in the field of agro-production and subsidiary activities. In tea production,
47 per cent; in cotton cultivation, 48.84 per cent; in oilseeds 45.43 per cent and in the field of vegetable production 39.13 of the labour is directly
contributed by women (EU-FTA And The Likely Impact On Indian Women: Centre For Trade And Development). In human societies, the unequal
distribution of labour and its discriminatory importance have both been used to sow the seeds of gender discrimination. In the domestic work
related to agriculture women do most of the drudgery, but their contribution is not recognized at all, and hence they are paid almost nothing. As per
a time study, Indian women spend some 25 hours a week on their domestic chores and about 5 hours a week on upkeep and care, and in the
community service work (Role of Farm Women in Agriculture and Lessons Learned: Sage). And after this, they invest their 30 hours in an unpaid labour
work. It is clear case, which proves that present growth policies (we must not call them development policies) are the key force in widening gender
based disparities.
There is a very recent report by McKinsey Global Institute on Gender Equality in India, which marks sox Indian states (Madhya Pradesh, Utter
Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam) as states with Extreme High Inequality (Femdex below 0.5), where as all other 25
States have High Inequality. According to the report a simple average Femdex of 0.46 in Indias bottom five states on gender parityBihar,
Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradeshwhich is close to the GPS of Chad and Yemen.

2
Decline in Rural Female Labour Force, Participation in India: A Relook into the Causes - Sunita Sanghi, A Srija, and Shirke Shrinivas Vijay (Vikalpa The Journal of
Decision Makers and SAGE)
Agriculture is classified as unproductive job, of course by the Growth Philosophers, who are totally disconnected from the land and reality;
according to McKinsey Global Institute report - The power of parity: How advancing womens equality in India More women in India tend to work in low-
productivity jobs than men. Seventy-five percent of female employment in rural areas is in agriculture compared with 59 percent for men. Isnt it
strength of India? Although it says that Eight priority actions can help accelerate progress, including education and skill-building, job creation in key
sectors, corporate policies to promote diversity, and programs to address deep-rooted mind-sets about the role of women in work; but it seeks to
promote a approach which in self derecognizes the contribution (not merely role) of women on social-economy.

In, what is now the second biggest market of the world; India, the domestic chores and the attendant labour work have not received their due socio-
economic recognition at the policy level. First, society decides that the domestic chores are the responsibility of women, and then, it further unfairly
decides that such a work will not fetch any value on its part. But it would be very interesting to note that if the regular domestic work and
responsibilities of women are evaluated on the basis of prevalent skill labour rates at their minimum (average of the Indian States), their regular
domestic work commands a value of Rs. 16.29 lakh crore annually, more than the annual budget of Govt. of India (For the year 2013-14, the revised
estimate of Indian Yearly Budget was Rs. 15.90 lakh crore).
Not only this, there is no concept of a weekly off-day or rest day here. Our 160 million women shoulder the very important responsibility of running
their families, their homes, which is drilled into their psyche through a process of emotive socialization. As a result, we dont hear that the so-called
housewives are on a strike as a mark of their protest. Just imagine, if they really go on a strike what would and could be the fate of our homes,
families! It will be almost an impossible situation; an impasse. Not only from the vantage point of gender equity, the amount of labour and skill-set
they put in their normal, routine, mundane activities, their roles should be recognized in pure economic value terms as well. Otherwise, ignoring
their contribution will tantamount to the violation of socio-economic rights of our women.
Our population is divided into two categories: working and non-working. People who are fully or partially engaged in an economic production are
considered as working population and non-working category covers students, beggars, vagabonds and domestic workers. According to the data of
census 2011, some 72.89 crore people have been categorized as non-working. As per the official definition, non-working people are those who, in
the notified period, have not done any or any type of the work. Their labour/work/activity are not thought of as a contributing one to the overall
economic enterprise. Out of these 72.89 crore non-working people 16.56 crore are the persons whose main job is to furnish domestic
responsibilities. And the more significant aspect of this equation is, 15.99 crore are women among these so-called non-working / house people,
that is, a whopping 96.50 per cent. As per the census 2011, only 34.49 lakh males (3.5%) specify domestic responsibilities as their primary job. Sad
part of this whole rigmarole is, despite women performing numerous important and very useful domestic chores like cooking, washing clothes and
utensils, cleaning and dusting etc., caretaking et al) they are classified as non-workers.
Organizations fighting for womens rights have demonstrated that every woman is a worker in her own right; whether working out-of-home for an
income generation or working at-home to shoulder the domestic responsibilities. On this basis, every woman has her basic right to motherhood. In
Mountain Research Journal a research study on Garhwal Himalaya Zone was published, whose subject was Contribution of Women in Food and Economic
Security of their Families. During the study, the response of women was non-working when asked of their working status. However, the analysis of
this study revealed that while the men in the family work for 9 hours on average, women put in whopping 16 hours of their quota. If these men and
women were paid at the minimum of prevailing official rates, the men would have got Rs. 128 per day per head, whereas a woman would have
fetched Rs. 228 per day. While enumerating some of the domestic chores like brining fire wood, honey, water, and vegetables etc. routinely
performed by women, at the market rates, it turned out that all these works / jobs would have cost the concerned family a whopping Rs. 34,168
annually but for the woman in the family.
Agriculture and Women
All over our country, women in agriculture perform numerous agri-tasks like preparing the soil, seed collection, handling sprouts / germinations,
sowing, manure making, taking weeds out, chaffing and harvesting. Apart from all this, they also do many chores which are not directly linked to
agriculture as such, but they fall in the domain of agri-sector. For example, husbandry is almost their domain. Even in fish-farming they play an
important role. Bringing firewood for their hearths, fodders for their cattle, minor forest produce for domestic purposes, drinking water etc. all such
chores require a great deal of labour and all these chores are performed dutifully by our women. Alas! These are not recognized as such and given
their proper due. Women are not considered as farmers per se, and their participation in the farming-related decision making has been on decline for
past some time. This has happened especially since the advent of hybrid seeds, heavy use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and mechanization of
farming, which have trampled upon the local and indigenous practices of agriculture.
Moreover, the market economy recognizes the official owner of the land as a farmer, irrespective of the fact who puts how much labour in the
enterprise of agriculture and its ancillary activities.
As per the Agriculture Census, 2010-11, published in the month of February 2014, presently a mere 12.78 per cent of agriculture landholdings are in
the name of women. This makes them vulnerable, as far as farming decision making is concerned. And it is not just an administrative matter; it has
far-reaching economic-political implications. Government is not taking any judicial initiative in this matter. After all, government too is patriarchal
in its built-up.
Society at large knows that, as compared to men, for women agriculture is more of respect, responsibility and emotions than a plain resource /
means. In such a scenario, if the reins of control go into the hands of women, the experiments wrought in the name of advanced farming would
first face a proper and adequate scrutiny, and the business of land profiteering will be duly resisted with. According to the latest farming census, in
the year 2005-06, the total number of agriculture landholdings stood at 12.92 crore, which though increased to 13.83 crore by the year 2010-11, but
the acreage of agricultural land did not register any increment, as such, in the interregnum. In fact, due to lack of land reforms, unequal distribution
of land, and now the much-maligned land acquisition et al, the size of tillage has consistently shrunk. For example, in the year 1970-71, the average
land-holding was 2.28 ha., which by the year 2010-11 got reduced to 1.15 ha. A little more than 85 per cent farmers hold less than 2 ha of land, and
they are called small and marginal farmers. In such a situation, it becomes imperative that the techniques adopted for farming should be production-
enhancing but without causing any harm to soil and its fertility. Green Revolution imposed its own techniques, chemicals, seeds et al which proved
to be detrimental to small holding marginal farming. When 85 per cent of farmers are small and medium holding farmers, is it wise and ethical to
hand over their holdings to big corporate houses whether directly or indirectly? The policy for promoting Industrial Agriculture is particularly
disasterus for Women.
The Present Status of Agriculture
The first decade of twenty first century has brought so many challenges for us to deal with. It seems government is succeeding in its intention of
driving people away from farming. In this first decade of the century, the working population of our country has increased by some 80 million in
numbers. But, at the same time, people had to give up their resources and means of earning their livelihood through agriculture. In the year 2001,
12.73 crore people were classified as farmers. A decade later, in the year 2011, the number of farmers in our country got diminished by 86.2 lakh;
everyday 2368 farmers leaving their age-old socio-economic-cultural occupation.
In Uttar Pradesh (UP) alone, 31 lakh farmers have given up farming. In Punjab, this number is 13 lakh, in Haryana, it is 5.37 lakh, in Madhya
Pradesh (MP), 11.93 lakh, and in Andhra Pradesh (AP), 13.68 lakh farmers have left their original job of agriculture.
The other side of this picture is more disturbing and painful. In this very decade, population of Agriculture laborers increased by 3.75 crore. This
veiled superpower called India produces 430 Agriculture laborers every ticking hour. In the last decade, the state of UP has witnessed the number of
its Agriculture laborers increased by 1.25 crore; in Bihar they have gone up by 49.27 lakh, in AP by 31.35 lakh, and in MP, the number of Agriculture
laborers has gone up by 47.91 lakh.
Women in Agriculture
In general, the status of women in a society is measured / assessed by the recognition given to their participation and contribution. When we assess
the number of women in farming activities, we realize the impact of the crisis prevailing in the agriculture sector.
Cultivators
Women Cultivators: Undoubtedly, the participation of women in farming and its allied activities has been on equal footing, yet they have not been
given their due recognition and their due compensation for the same. In the year, 2001, India had 12.73 crore agriculturists / farmers, of which 4.19
crore were women, that is, 33 per cent. By the year 2011, the number of women participants in the field of agriculture declined further to 3.60 crore
(30.3%).
In the state-wise comparison, the farming fame state of Punjab has had a mere 14.6 per cent of women Agriculture laborers to boast about in the
year 2011, which declined even further to a measly 9.36 per cent by 2011. In MP, these figures are respectively 37.6 per cent and 33 per cent.
However, we cannot say for sure that in Punjab, women are not doing farming work as their primary job. The only rationale here is their
contribution and role as a farmer is not being recognized. And yes, we need to remember that as we go higher up the socio-economic ladder, the
status of women stands relatively more neglected and ignored.
In 2001, the better performing states in this respect were Rajasthan (46% women farmers) and Maharashtra (43.4% women farmers). But in the
decade since, these two states also have suffered unfavorably.
More Women Are Deserting Agriculture: In the decade under study, out of 86.20 lakh farmers leaving farming, 59.10 lakh (68.5%) were women.
In Haryana, a whopping 87.6% of women gave up on farming. Similarly, in MP, out of such 11.93 lakh farmers leaving behind the act of farming,
75.5 per cent (9 lakh in absolute numbers) were women. In Gujarat, the number of male farmers increased by 3.37 lakh but the number of female
farmers decreased by 6.92 lakh. Rajasthan is the only state where the number of both women and men farmers increased by 4.78 lakh in the said
period. In Jharkhand, on the other hand, the number of farming males saw a decline of 1.14 lakh, whereas that of women farmers witnessed an
increment of 39 thousand.
Agricultural Laborers
The disturbing trend is the decline in the number of farmers over time, along with a significant increase in the population of Agricultural Laborers.
Its a telltale tragedy of forcing the agriculture-dependent people out of farming and at the same time leaving nothing honorable for them on the
table to fend for themselves.
We would like to mention two things in this respect:
1. Our society does not recognize its women as farmers, though it does recognize them well as Agriculture laborers. In the farmer group, there
were 33% women, whereas farming laborer group had 46.3% women as its participants. But this also declined further, in the year 2011, down to
42.67 per cent. In all, women get impacted more adversely by any crisis of employment reduction.
2. In 2001, the percentage of women in Agriculture laborers was like this: in Rajasthan 58.2%, in MP 52.2%, Maharashtra 54.47%, AP 53.34%,
TN, 50.7%. After a decade, it saw a decline in its numbers. Nevertheless, the participation of women in the farming work in the states of
Rajasthan, MP and AP was more than 50% in quantum.
3. In the interregnum of a decade, the population of Agriculture laborers in India has increased by 3.75 crore, 32% of which are women. In this
decade, in UP the number of Agriculture laborers has increased by 1.25 crore (women by 28.43 lakh), in AP it increased by 31.35 lakh (women
by 14.59 lakh), Bihar 49.27 lakh (women by 10.87 lakh), MP 47.91 (women by 20 lakh).

Dwelling deep into these facts reveal the discriminatory and disparity-centric nature of our present development policy, which is fatal not only for
our agriculture but for our women folks as well.
Women in general, in India, are still deprived of their fundamental rights of healthy life, safe motherhood and physical and mental safety and
security. On the other hand, women engaged in the farming suffer and endure extra burden of numerous crises like drought, flooding, fake and
toxic seeds and fertilizers, unjust and unfair price-fixation of their crops by market forces. In fact, we need to do an honest critique of our
development model; still more appropriately from the perspective of a female child. What an irony it is! On one hand we seek a permanent seat in
the UN Security Council, while on the other hand we are not able to provide a proper livelihood security to our poor and poverty-stricken farmers.
The only palatable corollary seems to be the growth is not, and cannot be an end by itself. We all are demanding gender equality in employment and
in economic growth, but intent needs to be examined! Does it mean, profit racketeers and resource grabbers need more hands to increase their
control over systems and resources and for this propose only economic aspect of gender equality is being pushed forward and the political
economic agenda of womens control over resources and in decision making has been set aside.
 Year 2001 Year 2011 STATUS in 10 Years

as agriculture labourers

as agriculture labourers

(Nos.) {Female number

(Nos.) {Female number
engaged in Agriculture

engaged in Agriculture
Women's participation

Women's participation

Women's participation

Women's participation

Change in Cultivators
Agriculture labourers

Agriculture labourers

Change in agri.Labrs
Working population

Working population
Percentage of total

Percentage of total

Percentage of total

Percentage of total
Total Workers

Total Workers
as cultivators

as cultivators
Cultivators

Cultivators
workers

workers

workers

workers

in Blue}

in Blue}
State

Male 275014476 85416498 31.06 57329100 20.85 51.90 331865930 82706724 24.92 82740351 24.93 49.85 -2709774 25411251

Female 127220248 41896353 32.93 49446230 38.87 71.80 149877381 35985916 24.01 61589482 41.09 65.10 -5910437 12143252

India Total 402234724 127312851 31.65 32.91 106775330 26.55 46.31 58.20 481743311 118692640 24.64 30.32 144329833 29.96 42.67 54.60 -8620211 37554503

Male 6960213 1762869 25.33 1104140 15.86 41.19 8074157 1753359 21.72 1239445 15.35 37.07 -9510 135305

Female 2167269 302198 13.94 385721 17.80 31.74 1823205 181152 9.94 349010 19.14 29.08 -121046 -36711

Punjab Total 9127482 2065067 22.62 14.63 1489861 16.32 25.89 38.95 9897362 1934511 19.55 9.36 1588455 16.05 21.97 35.59 -130556 98594

Male 5715526 1855547 32.47 717133 12.55 45.01 6806636 1789122 26.28 1041241 15.30 41.58 -66425 324108

Female 2661940 1162467 43.67 561688 21.10 64.77 2109872 691679 32.78 486892 23.08 55.86 -470788 -74796

Haryana Total 8377466 3018014 36.03 38.52 1278821 15.27 43.92 51.29 8916508 2480801 27.82 27.88 1528133 17.14 31.86 44.96 -537213 249312

Male 14695802 7062726 48.06 1055332 7.18 55.24 18297076 7518486 41.09 2132669 11.66 52.75 455760 1077337

Female 9070853 6077340 67.00 1468387 16.19 83.19 11589179 6100384 52.64 2806995 24.22 76.86 23044 1338608

Rajasthan Total 23766655 13140066 55.29 46.25 2523719 10.62 58.18 65.91 29886255 13618870 45.57 44.79 4939664 16.53 56.83 62.10 478804 2415945

Male 40981558 17479887 42.65 8245599 20.12 62.77 49846762 15511533 31.12 17966885 36.04 67.16 -1968354 9721286

Female 13002266 4687675 36.05 5155312 39.65 75.70 15967953 3546355 22.21 7998194 50.09 72.30 -1141320 2842882

Uttar Pradesh Total 53983824 22167562 41.06 21.15 13400911 24.82 38.47 65.89 65814715 19057888 28.96 18.61 25965079 39.45 30.80 68.41 -3109674 12564168

Male 20483003 6457265 31.52 8730251 42.62 74.15 25222189 5745420 22.78 12570717 49.84 72.62 -711845 3840466

Female 7491603 1736356 23.18 4687493 62.57 85.75 9502798 1450806 15.27 5774932 60.77 76.04 -285550 1087439

Bihar Total 27974606 8193621 29.29 21.19 13417744 47.96 34.94 77.25 34724987 7196226 20.72 20.16 18345649 52.83 31.48 73.55 -997395 4927905
 Male 22388044 4655210 20.79 5080236 22.69 43.49 34756355 4500041 12.95 7452814 21.44 34.39 -155169 2372578

Female 7093646 998712 14.08 2282721 32.18 46.26 26716047 616647 2.31 2736028 10.24 12.55 -382065 453307

West Bengal Total 29481690 5653922 19.18 17.66 7362957 24.97 31.00 44.15 61472402 5116688 8.32 12.05 10188842 16.57 26.85 24.90 -537234 2825885

Male 6659856 2405371 36.12 1485322 22.30 58.42 8424769 2291182 27.20 2341700 27.80 54.99 -114189 856378

Female 3449174 1484135 43.03 1365975 39.60 82.63 4673505 1523650 32.60 2094352 44.81 77.42 39515 728377

Jharkhand Total 10109030 3889506 38.48 38.16 2851297 28.21 47.91 66.68 13098274 3814832 29.12 39.94 4436052 33.87 47.21 62.99 -74674 1584755

Male 16194368 6882776 42.50 3518368 21.73 64.23 20146970 6591064 32.71 6310657 31.32 64.04 -291712 2792289

Female 9599151 4155130 43.29 3882302 40.44 83.73 11427163 3253375 28.47 5881610 51.47 79.94 -901755 1999308

Madhya Pradesh Total 25793519 11037906 42.79 37.64 7400670 28.69 52.46 71.49 31574133 9844439 31.18 33.05 12192267 38.61 48.24 69.79 -1193467 4791597

Male 14477286 3906697 26.99 2509651 17.34 44.32 18000914 4244449 23.58 3649591 20.27 43.85 337752 1139940

Female 6778235 1895984 27.97 2652007 39.13 67.10 6766833 1203051 17.78 3189824 47.14 64.92 -692933 537817

Gujarat Total 21255521 5802681 27.30 32.67 5161658 24.28 51.38 51.58 24767747 5447500 21.99 22.08 6839415 27.61 46.64 49.61 -355181 1677757

Male 26852095 6680696 24.88 4924034 18.34 43.22 32616875 7592313 23.28 6774538 20.77 44.05 911617 1850504

Female 14321256 5132579 35.84 5891228 41.14 76.98 16811003 4977060 29.61 6711602 39.92 69.53 -155519 820374

Maharashtra Total 41173351 11813275 28.69 43.45 10815262 26.27 54.47 54.96 49427878 12569373 25.43 39.60 13486140 27.28 49.77 52.71 756098 2670878

Male 21662192 5201564 24.01 6453741 29.79 53.80 24185595 4357304 18.02 8130022 33.62 51.63 -844260 1676281

Female 13231667 2657970 20.09 7378411 55.76 75.85 15237311 2134218 14.01 8837732 58.00 72.01 -523752 1459321

Andhra Pradesh Total 34893859 7859534 22.52 33.82 13832152 39.64 53.34 62.16 39422906 6491522 16.47 32.88 16967754 43.04 52.09 59.51 -1368012 3135602

Male 18100397 3262489 18.02 4256360 23.52 41.54 21434978 2732479 12.75 4842707 22.59 35.34 -530010 586347

Female 9777885 1853550 18.96 4381270 44.81 63.76 11449703 1515978 13.24 4767840 41.64 54.88 -337572 386570

Tamil Nadu Total 27878282 5116039 18.35 36.23 8637630 30.98 50.72 49.33 32884681 4248457 12.92 35.68 9610547 29.22 49.61 42.14 -867582 972917

Data Source - Census 2001 and 2011

Calculation by the Vikas Samvad