Comparative Participation of Rural Women in Agroforestry Home Gardens in Kumaun Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

Women are considered to be the backbone of hill economy in Uttarakhand state. Women’s contribution to agricultural activities like cropping, composting, winnowing, animal tending and other related work is far greater than the men. In the present study, an attempt has been made to analyse participation of rural women in homegarden agroforestry in Kumaun Himalaya, India. Two blocks each were selected in hill and bhabhar region and in each block five villages were selected at random. Participatory interview and direct observation technique was used to collect gender specific data and the sample of the study consisted of 100 farm families in each block. In this region, except ploughing, women carry out almost all crop production tasks to help their menfolk. In hill 68% women were participating independently while in bhabhar only 36% were working independently. Participation of rural women was greater in hill compared to bhabhar. The high level of participation of rural women in homegarden agroforestry makes it necessary to formulate policies and strategies to strengthen the technical knowledge of rural women in homegarden management.