Strengthening Women’s Role in Agriculture

• 12 Jun 2025

For Prelims: Climate Change, Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP), DAY-NRLM, UN FAO, Regenerative Agriculture, Agroforestry, Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM), Namo Drone Didi Initiative  

For Mains: Role of Women in Agriculture, Impact of Climate Change on Women Farmers 

Source: TH 

Why in News? 

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has declared 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer, recognising the critical yet often overlooked role of women in global agriculture.  

• Women contribute nearly half of the global food supply, making up 60% to 80% of food production in developing countries and 39% of the agricultural labor force in South Asia. 

What is the State of Women in Indian Agriculture? 

• High Participation Rate: Around 80% of rural women are engaged in agriculture, with 3.6 crore women farmers and 6.15 crore women agricultural labourers (Census 2011).  
  • They form 33% of the agricultural labour force and 48% of self-employed farmers.  
  • With rising male migration, women increasingly manage farms independently, marking the feminisation of Indian agriculture. 
• Community Management: Women serve as key facilitators for agricultural extension, information dissemination, and community-based natural resource management. 

What are the Challenges Faced by Women in Agriculture? 

• Gender Inequality in Land Ownership: Despite constituting a significant portion of the agricultural workforce, women own only 14% of agricultural land, just 8.3% as per NFHS-5. This severely limits their access to institutional credit, subsidies, technology, and extension services, curbing their productivity and decision-making power. 
• Barriers to Technology, Educational and Skill Adoption: Women farmers face limited access to credit, financial services, and modern technology, restricting their ability to invest in improved agricultural practices.  
  • Additionally, low levels of formal education, financial literacy, and technical skills hinder their capacity to adopt innovations or scale up agri-enterprises.This limits their capacity to adopt modern and efficient agricultural practices. 
• Overburdened & Unrecognised Workload: Women simultaneously manage farming responsibilities, household chores, and childcare, leading to physical exhaustion and time poverty. Their contributions in livestock care, seed preservation, and food processing often go unpaid and unacknowledged. 
• Market Exclusion: Limited mobility, lack of transport, and gender-based discrimination in market spaces prevent women from accessing fair markets and remunerative prices. Information asymmetry further marginalises them from value chains. 
• Vulnerabilities Due to Climate Change: Climate change exacerbates existing challenges for women farmers by increasing the frequency and severity of natural disasters, such as floods and droughts. It also increases their domestic responsibilities, further limiting their time and resources for farming. 

What are India's Initiatives to Support Women in Agriculture? 

• Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) & Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation: MKSP & SMAM initiatives focus on enhancing the skills of women farmers and provide subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery, enabling them to improve productivity and reduce manual labor. 
• National Food Security Mission (NFSM): NFSM allocates 30% of its budget to support women farmers across various states and union territories, aiming to improve food security and support women's participation in agriculture. 
• Innovative Projects and Initiatives: 
  • ENACT Project in Nagaon District: By connecting women farmers with agricultural and climate experts via technology, the ENACT project provides weekly advisories, improving access to important agricultural knowledge and strategies to cope with changing weather patterns. 
  • Promotion of Flood-Resistant Crops and Market Linkages: Initiatives like promoting flood-resistant rice varieties and diversifying livelihoods help mitigate the impact of natural disasters. Additionally, improving market linkages ensures that women farmers can access better markets for their produce. 
• Other Initiatives: 
  • Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and Microfinance promote women's collective action and rural financial inclusion. 
  • Lakhpati Didi Scheme promotes entrepreneurship, credit access, and financial inclusion for SHGs and rural women entrepreneurs. 
  • Namo Drone Didi Initiative (2024–26) aims to equip 15,000 women SHGs with drones for providing agricultural services. 
  • Focus on micro-irrigation and integrated farming, with 30% allocation for women within 50% earmarked for small and marginal farmers under Per Drop More Crop & Rainfed Area Development (RAD). 
  • Mahila Kisan Yojana provides loans to SC women for self-employment in agriculture and allied sectors. 
  • Rashtriya Mahila Kisan Diwas is celebrated annually on 15th October to recognize and appreciate the valuable contribution of women farmers in agriculture. 

What Steps Should be Taken to Empower Women in Agriculture? 

• Leverage the International Year of the Woman Farmer (2026): Utilize this global recognition to promote gender equality in agriculture, raise awareness, and strengthen supportive policies and institutions for women farmers. 
• Design Gender-Focused Policies: Formulate agricultural policies based on gender-disaggregated data to address the specific needs and challenges faced by women in agriculture effectively. 
• Enhance Access to Resources and Collective Action: Improve women's access to credit, technology, and information, and support women-led self-help groups (SHGs) to increase their participation, bargaining power, and decision-making in agriculture. 

Conclusion 

The declaration of 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer is an opportunity to catalyse systemic reforms in the agricultural sector. Women farmers are not just beneficiaries; they are agents of change for ensuring food security, rural prosperity, and climate resilience. Unlocking their potential requires rights-based, inclusive, and climate-resilient agricultural policies, grounded in equity and empowerment. 

Drishti Mains Question

Women farmers are central to food security but remain invisible in policy and statistics. Suggest policy measures to bridge this gender gap in Indian agriculture.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs) 

Prelims: 

Q. With reference to the circumstances in Indian agriculture, the concept of “Conservation Agriculture” assumes significance. Which of the following fall under the Conservation Agriculture? (2018)

1. Avoiding the monoculture practices 
2. Adopting minimum tillage. 
3. Avoiding the cultivation of plantation crops 
4. Using crop residues to cover soil surface 
5. Adopting spatial and temporal crop sequencing/crop rotations 

Select the correct answer using the code given below: 

(a) 1, 3 and 4 
(b) 2, 3, 4 and 5 
(c) 2, 4 and 5  
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 5 

Ans: (c) 

Q. With reference to the ‘Global Alliance for ClimateSmart Agriculture (GACSA)’, which of the following statements is/are correct? (2018)

1. GACSA is an outcome of the Climate Summit held in Paris in 2015. 
2. Membership of GACSA does not create any binding obligations. 
3. India was instrumental in the creation of GACSA. 

Select the correct answer using the code given below: 

(a) 1 and 3 only  
(b) 2 only  
(c) 2 and 3 only  
(d) 1, 2 and 3 

Ans: (b) 

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Mains: 

Q. Discuss the various economic and socio-cultural forces that are driving increasing feminization of agriculture in India. (2014)