Role of Women in Agriculture: A Micro Level Study

India has a predominantly agrarian economy. 70% of her population is rural; of those households, 60% engage in agriculture as their main source of income. It has always been India's most important economic sector. In this important agricultural sector woman plays a vital role, because it is largely a household enterprise. Women in India are major producers of food in terms of value, volume and number of hours worked. Nearly 63 percent of all economically active men are engaged in agriculture as compared to 78 per cent of women. Almost 50 percent of rural female workers are classified as agricultural labourers and 37% as cultivators. About 70 percent of farm work was performed by women. It is observed that women play a significant and crucial role in agricultural development and allied fields including, main crop production, live-stock production, horticulture, post-harvesting operations, agro/social forestry, fishing etc.; it is a fact long taken for granted but ignored since ages. In this paper an attempt has been made (i) To study the role of women in agriculture and changes in their position at micro level, that is village level (ii) To study the gender discrimination in land, labour and wage market.