Gender Differences in Agriculture

Indian economy is basically agrarian. In spite of economic development and industrialization, agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy. It is the major source of income for majority of the families in the country and is considered to be a family enterprise. The whole family, including women plays a pivotal role in agriculture; as agricultural labour, as farmers, co-farmers, and family labour and as managers of farms and farm entrepreneurs. Three-fourths of women workers are in agriculture. Women play a key role in agricultural production, their importance both as workers and as managers of farms has been growing, as an increasing number of men are moving to non-farm jobs. The present study was an attempt to generate gender specific database on agriculture with agro-climatic zone wise variations for development of appropriate and gender specific technologies and strategies for dissemination of information based upon role and responsibility of men and women in farming. The study was conducted in five agro climatic zones of Punjab. The proportionate random sampling was undertaken to select 772 households. Personal interview and observation techniques were used to collect the data separately from men and women working head of the family. The findings indicated that women were involved in farming activities along with men, particularly in harvesting, weeding, transplanting, nursery raising and land preparation. The comparative data shows that more women were responsible for farming activities than those participating physically. Women and men were both found to highlight their role and responsibility pointing towards a need to focus on generating data through participatory approach for more conclusive results.