Women in Agricultural Development

Ours in basically an agricultural country. It is a source of livelihood for over 70 per cent of the population depend on agriculture. Therefore it has become a family enterprise. The whole family of men, women and children work on it and earn their livelihood. Men’s role in agriculture in widely known, but women’s role is not that open, though they mostly work for more number of hours, with less privileges, tedious activities and with painful postures. It is only in the recent times that their role is being recognized, though there is a possibility that the women themselves are not aware of their contributions, hardships, and above all over burden of not only the household jobs but jobs related to agriculture and allied fields. The conditions is worse when they work on fields not of their own but on others. India is a vast country marked by different regions with diverse agro-climatic conditions. Hence the importance of conducting region-specific studies. The present study is conducted in Chittoor, one of the districts of the drought-prone Rayalaseema region in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Of the total female work force in Chittoor District, 85.3 per cent are engaged in farm sector either as cultivators or as agricultural labourers. There is need for region-specific studies to gain clearer and deeper insights into the extent of women’s participation in agriculture and allied enterprises, problems confronted by them, and shifts in policy measures to be made to help them play a productive role and act as effective partners, along with men, in agricultural and rural development. The present humble attempt to make a micro level study.