Short-duration male migration and women's autonomy - evidence from rural India

Presented by Itishree Pattnaik (Gujarat Institute of Development Research), as part of the Annual Scientific Conference hosted by the University of Canberra and co-sponsored by the University of Canberra, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research, Canberra, Australia, April 2-4, 2019

Trends and Decomposition of Agricultural Growth and Crop Output in Gujarat: Recent Evidence

The growth story of Gujarat’s agriculture (with around 10 per cent growth rate in the recent phase) has received considerable attention and is often hailed as a role model for other states to follow. In this context, it is therefore important to examine the major factors contributing to this high growth performance. This paper tries to identify these factors by undertaking a decomposition analysis with reference to price, area, cropping pattern and yield. The decomposition analysis suggests that the individual effect of price alone has increased over time along with a reduction in the yield effect. The price-area interaction effect which was negative during the 1990s turned out to be positive in the recent phase. Similarly, the interaction of yield and price has become positive in the recent phase. This implies most of the crops for which there was substantial price increase show favourable change in yield and area. increase, shows favourable changes in yield and area

What determines women's agricultural participation? A comparative study of landholding households in rural India

This paper examines the key socioeconomic and cultural-demographic factors that determine rural women's labour contributions in agriculture in India,both on family farms(either as cultivators or as familylabour) and as agricultural wage labourer. Based on the analysis of primary data derived from a survey of 800 households from the two Indian states of Gujarat and West Bengal, it establishes that women's work in the farm sector cannot be homogenized. Women's work as additional hands in family farms differs from that as wage labourers which is casual in nature;theirworkalsodiffersacrossdifferentregions.Inthecommercialized,relativelymoredevel-oped state of Gujarat, women's labour contributions are significantly different from West Bengal's less com-mercialized agrarian economy. The paper concludes that feminization of agriculture in India is distress-ledwhereithasbothclass(definedwithincomeinGujarat)andcaste(socialgroups)connotationsinGujarat,whilemainlyeconomicfactorsinfluencewomen'sworkinthefarmsectorinWestBeng

The feminization of agriculture or the feminization of agrarian distress? Tracking the trajectory of women in agriculture in India

The rising share of farm work in India undertaken by women – a phenomenon commonly referred to as the feminization of agriculture – raises questions about the changing character of rural India, particularly with regards to women’s social and economic roles. Based on an analysis of four sets of occupational data drawn from the Indian Census (1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011), this paper demonstrates that, as a process driven largely by the outmigration of men from rural areas, the feminization of agriculture has no necessary relationship with wider INDICATORS of women’s social or economic empowerment. Instead, women’s growing participation in agriculture appears to be strongly related to several indicators of poverty. This paper concludes that women’s growing contribution of labour in agriculture adds to the already heavy work burdens of most rural women, thereby further undermining their well-being, and suggests that the feminization of agriculture may better be described as the feminization of agrarian distress.This work is a part of the project Farmers of Future: Challenges of Feminized Agriculture in India funded jointly by Australian Research Council (DP 140101682) and Indian Council for Social Science research (ICSSR). The authors would like to express their gratitude to both funding agencies. The paper was presented at the Symposium on ‘The Great Transformation in South Asia: Feminisation of Agriculture and its Implications for Food Security’, held at the Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University, in August. 2015. The authors would also like to thank the experts and the audiences, present in the Symposium, for their valuable comments and suggestions. The authors would like to thank Dr. Chandrasekhara Bahinipati for his inputs in the paper. Last but not the least, our grateful thanks go to Professor Amita Shah for her constant encouragement, guidance and insightful mentoring in developing the analysis

The feminization of agriculture or the feminization of agrarian distress? Tracking the trajectory of women in agriculture in India

The rising share of farm work in India undertaken by women – a phenomenon commonly referred to as the feminization of agriculture – raises questions about the changing character of rural India, particularly with regards to women's social and economic roles. Based on an analysis of four sets of occupational data drawn from the Indian Census (1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011), this paper demonstrates that, as a process driven largely by the outmigration of men from rural areas, the feminization of agriculture has no necessary relationship with wider INDICATORS of women's social or economic empowerment. Instead, women's growing participation in agriculture appears to be strongly related to several indicators of poverty. This paper concludes that women's growing contribution of labour in agriculture adds to the already heavy work burdens of most rural women, thereby further undermining their well-being, and suggests that the feminization of agriculture may better be described as the feminization of agrarian distress

Research Note: Impact of Gujarat’s Krishi Mahotsava (Agrarian Festival) Campaigns: Results of a Perception Survey of 1445 Farmers from 25 Districts

Since 2005, Government of Gujarat has been organising an annual, month-long, pre-monsoon Krishi Mahotsava (Agrarian Festival) campaign to expose farmers to new farming technologies and market opportunities, enhance their interaction with scientists and input suppliers, and improve their access to various government schemes. Krishi Mahotsava entails mobilisation of government machinery on a massive scale. But does it reach out to the farmer? This paper presents the results of a sample survey of 1445 farmers from across Gujarat to understand their perceptions about the Krishi Mahotsava campaign, its impact on them and their suggestions about how to enhance its usefulness to them