Abstract

Agriculture sector as a whole has developed and emerged immensely with the infusion of science and technology. Agriculture can be an important engine of growth and poverty reduction. But the sector is underperforming in many countries in part because women, who are often a crucial resource in agriculture and the rural economy, face constraints that reduce their productivity. Women have always been working everywhere in each part of the society of the world since the beginning of human civilization. Women today are paid less and have lower status at work than men. In spite of legislation and pressure from women’s movements, equality at work and status is still only a remote possibility for most women in the third world countries. Women farmers have been an important workforce in agriculture. They are the backbone of agricultural workforce. As per 2011 census, women workforce in agriculture and allied sectors is 98 million, which is 37 percent of total wage workers. Rural women are much more over burdened then men owing to their multiple occupations, but worldwide their hard-work has mostly been unpaid. Agriculture is the main source of Indian Economy. More than half of the population is indulging in the sector for various purposes like food, employment, marketing, industrial purposes etc. as most of the agriculture practices are done in rural areas. It faces a list of issues, challenges and opportunities. The central problem being faced by agriculture in rural areas is low productivity which is due to high yield gaps, increased vulnerability due to the effects of increased frequencies of extreme climatic events, small and fragmented land holdings of farmers, quality of seeds being used, manures, fertilizers and biocide, irrigation challenges, lack off mechanization, agriculture marketing, inadequate transport facilities, inadequate storage facilities, scarcity of capital etc. discussing and resolving the issues of farmers, governments schemes are to be checked and make them available for the farmers to exterminate and liquidate the problems faced by agriculture in rural areas. The primary aim of the paper is to analyze the conditions and suggest development of women agriculture farmers and to study the issues & challenges of the same. The paper aims to frame a analytical study from secondary data collected for the development of the hilly agriculture and women’s participation to create a better India for tomorrow.