International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026: Role and Challenges in Indian Agriculture

2026 has been declared the “International Year of the Woman Farmer” by the Food and Agriculture Organization to recognise women’s role in global food systems.

• The initiative aims to address gender inequality in agriculture and promote women’s empowerment.

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Role of Women in Indian Agriculture

• Share in Workforce: Women constitute about 64% of India’s agricultural workforce, making them a backbone of the rural economy.
• Participation in Farming: Women perform around 70% of farm tasks, including sowing, transplanting, weeding, harvesting, and post-harvest operations.
• In Allied Activities: Their participation is very high in animal husbandry, fisheries, horticulture, and dairy, with nearly 95% involvement in livestock activities.
• Feminisation of Agriculture: Male migration to non-farm jobs has increased the responsibility of women in managing farms and agricultural households.
• Role in Sustainable Agriculture: Women often promote traditional knowledge, biodiversity conservation, and climate-resilient farming practices.

Challenges Faced by Women Farmers

• Land Ownership: Only 13.9% of agricultural land holdings are in women’s names, limiting access to schemes like:
  • Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).
  • Kisan Credit Card (KCC).
  • Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
• Decision-Making: Decision-making is largely male-dominated (e.g., crop selection, seed purchase, selling), while women perform labor-intensive tasks (sowing, weeding, harvesting).
• Limited Access to Credit: Women farmers face difficulties in obtaining loans, quality seeds, fertilizers, and modern farm machinery.
• Limited Access to Training and Technology: Women often have less exposure to agricultural extension services, digital tools, and climate information.

Climate Change and Women Farmers

• Higher Vulnerability: Women farmers are more vulnerable to climate change due to limited access to land, credit, technology, and climate information.
• Increased Workload: Climate stress leads to longer working hours for women, especially in collecting water, fodder, and managing farms.
• Limited Adaptation Capacity: Women often have less access to extension services, climate-resilient seeds, and financial resources, reducing their ability to adapt.

Measures to Empower Women Farmers

• Strengthen Land Rights: Promote joint land titles and inheritance rights to improve women’s access to credit, insurance, and government schemes.
• Improve Access to Finance: Provide women-friendly credit products, crop insurance, and financial inclusion through SHGs and rural banking systems.
• Climate-Resilient Agriculture: Encourage crop diversification, climate-resilient seed varieties, water conservation and sustainable farming practices.
• Climate Awareness: Provide real-time weather forecasts, climate information and insurance awareness in local languages.
• Diversify Rural Livelihoods: Support alternative income sources such as beekeeping, floriculture, medicinal plants and agro-processing to reduce climate risks.

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