ROLE OF WOMEN IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE AND RURAL SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD: A POLICY PERSPECTIVE

Since the beginning of agricultural history, women play a crucial role in Indian Agriculture. From tillage operation to post-harvesting activities and from livestock management to management of the agricultural household, women have an important role. No activity in agriculture becomes complete without the involvement of women. The National Commission on Farmers (Swaminathan Commission) mentioned it clearly that the role of women in agriculture has not been recognized properly, due to which this larger section in Indian agriculture remains marginalized on different socio-economic fronts like education, health, political representation, economic freedom, involvement of decision making and so on. There is a close relationship between the role of women in agriculture and sustainable rural livelihood. Therefore it is equally important for policymakers to provide enough attention to the women in agriculture during the formulation of policies toward sustainable rural livelihood. This study selected the Vidarbha region in Maharashtra to study the role of women in agriculture and rural sustainable livelihood through a policy perspective. Vidarbha is notoriously known for its agrarian crisis, where the highest farmers’ suicides have been found for many years. The study explored the views of different stakeholders like Sarpanch/Panch, farmers’ leaders, common farmers and so on to understand existing constraints in the policies and required changes in future policies related to the role of women in agriculture. This study explored the role of women in Indian agriculture in the context of sustainable rural livelihood through a policy perspective.