Women’s Labour and Sustainable Agriculture

This article looks at the participation of women in irrigated agriculture in 32 districts of Tamil Nadu and found exceptional involvement in these three districts, which are topographically different from each other, namely Kanyakumari, Nilgiris and South Arcot. The study asked—how does contemporary agriculture support female participation and in turn how does this keep agricultural labour supply and food security sustainable? A range of research methods were used to explore the rationale for exceptional female participation in irrigated agriculture. It concluded that such participation arises because of the existing pattern of labour supply primarily by landowning farm women and labourers. This as a result of male preference for widespread skilled jobs, subsequent changing labour pattern due to male migration, matrilineal property ownership, cropping intensity, multi-tasking of women and the coordinated effort of women’s groups (SHGs) in accessing micro-credits. Finally, subsidies and incentives have further altered and effected greater labour supply of women in agriculture.