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Inclusive development must involve women since poverty is particularly acute for women living in rural households. There is a need to empower these poor women through science and technology (S&T). Discussions on the recently announced Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, 2013, however, have not deliberated what the policy entails not only for women involved in S&T but also what S&T has to offer to the poor rural women and improve their lives. This is not a new phenomenon in India as S&T policies have not been particularly favourable to women in S&T since the inception of the Five-Year Plans. The foundation set up during the Nehruvian era continued during later years as well. To understand this the present article attempts to explore how the concerns of women were addressed during the initial Five-Year Plans to the current phase with particular focus on bringing socio-economic empowerment of women through S&T. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Azospirillum bio-fertilisers as a source of nutrients bring multifarious advantages for the poor farmers including affordability, environmental safety and sustainability of agriculture systems. Researchers, manufacturers and farmers have also benefited from this bio-innovation. An innovation systems approach has been used for analysing organisations along with the institutions and policies specific to this bio-innovation to understand their poverty alleviation focus. The main research question explored was: In what way do the poor participate and how their needs are expressed and represented in policies and programmes for bio-fertilisers? Though, Azospirillum bio-innovation system is very vibrant with diverse actors and linkages, poverty focus did not get reflected in the agenda of these actors and organisations. This paper while analysing the Azospirillum bio-innovation system brings out positive lessons from some local efforts in the State which can be helpful in bringing a pro-poor focus to the public sector R&D in the State. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]