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The goal of public breeding programs is to develop and disseminate improved varieties to farmers. This strategy aims at providing farming communities with superior crop varieties than they are growing. However, the strategy rarely considers the needs and preferences of farmers, especially gendered preferences, failing to solve real field problems by addressing the differences and inequalities prevalent in the farming communities. Our research examines how personal, household, agronomic and ecological characteristics of wheat growers in Bihar, India's eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains, affect women and men's wheat trait choices. Data were obtained from 1,003 households where both male and female respondents from the same household were interviewed. We accounted for 23 traits of wheat from a careful assessment of production, environment, cooking quality, market demand, and esthetic criteria. Binomial logistic regression was used to determine women's and men's trait preferences. The results imply that gender influences the preferences of wheat traits. Some traits are favored by both women and men, however, in other instances, there are striking disparities. For example, men choose wheat varieties that are well adapted to extreme climate conditions, have a higher grain yield, and produce chapati with a superior taste, while women prefer wheat types with superior chapati making quality, higher grain yield, and high market prices. Other socioeconomic, agronomic, cultural, and geolocational factors have a considerable impact on trait preferences. These human dimensions of traits preferred by women and men farmers are important for trait combinations to develop breeding product profiles for certain market segments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmers' use of agricultural technology is necessary for reducing poverty. However, women make up most poor smallholder farmers in India and are generally unable to access relevant opportunities. Tandem to supporting women farmers in technology adoption is increasing their empowerment. While women's empowerment has been on policy agendas in India for several years, progress has been slow and results are mixed. Using primary data from West Bengal, this study finds that female farmers with access to agricultural technologies will likely have social advantages over those without, but institutional and social support is necessary to facilitate real empowerment and overall development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As of late, there has been debate about the importance of recognizing women in agriculture as farmers. The demand to be recognized is backed by women's significant contribution to the household economy. Scholars have attempted to establish a correlation between land ownership and women's empowerment in agriculture. This is an oversimplification of the situation of women farmers and their empowerment, especially in the context of tribal society where women have better access to and control over community and forest resources. We undertook this study to examine if having land and other resources is a prerequisite for the empowerment of tribal women farmers. The study is based on a primary survey conducted by a network of civil society organizations (CSOs) that enhance the livelihoods of tribal women in Madhya Pradesh, India. The analysis is informed by the researchers' decade-long experience of working with tribal women farmers, our visits to the villages during the study period, and the available literature. The survey's findings indicate that having resources is necessary but not sufficient on its own for the empowerment of tribal women. Additionally, the survey points out that having better access to and control over resources has a very weak to weak correlation with decision-making, leadership, and wellbeing outcomes. Many ethnographic studies and our direct work with tribal communities in Central India show that agency is also exercised through the work tribal women put in and the knowledge they have. Moreover, understanding the agency of tribal women requires a nuanced and close observation of women's assertions and negotiations in their everyday lives. We believe it is crucial to examine how tribal women perceive their immediate environment, as well as their relationships with people, nature, work, and kinship affiliations. Therefore, this paper calls for future ethnographic studies to understand tribal women's agency and an in-depth exploration of sociocultural contexts in which tribal women live. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reimaging environmental communication as not only a "crisis discipline" but also as a "care discipline" opens up new possibilities for research and praxis. It challenges environmental communication scholars to rethink – and the funding bodies and institutions to reimagine – how an issue and discipline as central to humanity as the environment could progress. This article highlights key findings from women farmers-led environmental campaigns in India to challenge assumptions that might move us to overlook them. The article hopes to help us rethink the concept and practice of care through collaboration and ongoing relational research. Overall, this essay hopes to reimage the genesis and the future of the discipline of environmental communication as embodied in the everyday struggles and victories of women farmers at the forefront of environmental protection and social justice movements in the Global South and transnationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the adoption of scientific animal feeding practices among women dairy farmers in regions with good access to veterinary institutions. Access to these services is crucial for gender equality, economic empowerment, and sustainable agriculture. But, such studies are lacking in India. This research involved 150 women farmers in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, with easy access to veterinary institutions. High adoption levels were observed for most scientific dairy feeding practices. Colostrum feeding for new-born calves was the most adopted, while home preparation of animal feed was the least. The study revealed significant correlations between adoption levels and factors like landholding size, dairy experience, and market orientation. In summary, multiple veterinary institutions’ support positively influences the adoption of scientific dairy feeding practices among women dairy farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though there is an increasing trend towards the ‘feminisation of agriculture’, especially among the small and resource-poor farm households due to the increasing long-term migration of men, women’s work on the family farm is invisibilised to a very large extent in most parts of the country. One of the reasons for the absence of gender issues in the literature on agriculture is that women are not even regarded as farmers due to the absence of property rights for them. This paper is based on fieldwork conducted in villages of Punjab, Rajasthan and Telangana. It brings to light lesser-known facts about women’s ownership of land and their changing status in rural India. Based on data collected through primary research from 100 households in each of the three states, this paper concentrates on the less researched aspects of women in agriculture in India. The study focuses on women’s role as farmers, their control over land, their participation in agricultural activities on family farms, and decision-making, including decisions relating to the family. The analysis of data shows that there are regional differences in these aspects, which are mainly due to the differences in cultural factors relating to women’s status in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetable growers need information on improved cultivars and production practices, and usually tend to receive this information from informal sources due to certain constraints. This study describes the information networks of hill farmers across genders for accessing data about vegetable cultivation. Through simple random sampling, two hill districts in Uttarakhand, India, were chosen and 320 vegetable growers were selected. The results showed that in comparison to female farmers, the social networks of male farmers frequently included formal information sources. The main factors determining the pattern of information network usage among women farmers were education, farming experience, hours dedicated to farming, group membership and contact with extension agencies, whereas income, landholding, access to mobile phones, contact with extension agencies and frequency of contact affected the information network usage among male farmers. The study gives suggestions for policymakers and programme planners to bridge the gender divide by devising effective information dissemination in the hill regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home gardens have been an integral part of the recent food‐based interventions aimed at stimulating changes in dietary patterns and improving nutrition. However, evidence of their effects on food security, dietary quality, child anthropometry and incomes is limited, particularly among vulnerable populations groups. Using panel data from a sample of approximately 1900 households from vulnerable population groups in Odisha, India, difference‐in‐differences and other econometric techniques, we analyse the effects of home gardens on food security, dietary quality, child anthropometry and income. On average, home gardens contribute to better household food security, higher dietary quality of men and women but do not contribute to higher children's dietary quality and anthropometry. Also, home gardens increase monthly per adult equivalent incomes by 37% and reduce the prevalence of poverty by 11.7 percentage points. Quantile regression results suggest that home gardens enhance food security and incomes in all quantiles, but richer farmers benefit more than poorer farmers. Overall, home gardens can enhance household food security, dietary quality of men and women, and income gains among vulnerable farming population groups, but they may not suffice to improve child dietary quality and anthropometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I use deconstructive theory to analyze the category of "millet" and the endangerment of food grains in India. I argue that "millet" cohered as a sign of difference from the 1960s through India's Green Revolution, which created a national infrastructure for the materialization of colonial and masculinist ideology. In the hills of Uttarakhand and through the food grain regionally known as mandua, we see how India's postcolonial success relied on the ontological-epistemic erasure of women's food/land practices and assaulted the intertwined "rootedness" (place-making faculties) of women and the crops they cultivate. Reading mandua as "millet" under erasure (millet) reveals how mixed crop systems and practices of socio-ecological reciprocity eroded in the face of Green Revolution ideology and functioned as a bulwark against it. I turn finally to the counterhegemonic potential of "millet," as Uttarakhandi seed activists link with decentralized third world networks, which are exchanging seeds and building power across and from marginalized places. This opens a potential space of visibility and belonging for Uttarakhandi women farmers in the national arena at a time when the ecological and alimentary value of "millet" has entered national and global conversations, infusing the sign of difference with new meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The emerging technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution are transforming various industries, including agriculture. Unaware, young male and female farmers leave the agriculture profession as they perform unsustainable practices. Precision agriculture using the Internet of Things (IoT) is a solution to sustainable agriculture. Extension professionals are at the heart of disseminating agricultural advisory agricultural services in India. The discourse on the IoT is entering the space of extension advisory services (EASs) and social sciences. Thus, the present paper seeks to review the application of IoT in Indian agriculture, its challenges and its effect on EASs. The conceptual framework is drawn from disruptive and surveillance capitalist theories. Design/methodology/approach: Online literature review was conducted on electronic e-book Ebsco, Google scholar, PubMed, Jane, j gate, research4life, springer journal and Mendeley databases for full-text repositories, textbook, thesis, web articles, newspaper articles, reports, blogs for the year 1990 to May 2021 using keywords "IoT application in agriculture," "emerging technologies in agriculture," "challenges in IoT application," "extension advisory services sources of information," "big data and extension advisory, "IoT and extension advisory in India." Only publications in the English language were included. Findings: IoT aids progressive farmers and small farmers alike. Drones, robotics, precision irrigation, livestock tracking and crop disease surveillance are examples of IoT applications in agriculture. Only large corporations and governments access IoT, and for them, big data storage is an issue. Privacy and security concerns demand upgrades in IoT systems. Solutions to the convergence of IoT with the cloud will leverage agricultural EASs, resulting in fast computing, precise and proactive up-to-date problem solving. Hence, the need for communication between firms and clients has ceased. Thus, the jobs of extension agents are replaced. Research limitations/implications: The competence of future human extension agents lies in reskilling as a "knowledge broker" of relationships and expertise, as s/he cannot have all multidisciplinary knowledge. Originality/value: Although IoT applications in agriculture are available from a technological standpoint, there remains an awareness gap regarding the impact of IoT applications in agricultural EASs. This study will aid in a better comprehension of IoT applications from current and prospective EASs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces Development Led Inquiry (DLI) as an approach to improve situations incorporating relationships between third sector organisations (TSOs) and agricultural scientists, universities, and the public-sector agricultural establishment. There is limited scholarly work on the role of TSOs in agricultural research. Current approaches appear premised on TSOs being researched upon, and recipients of research outcomes rather than partners in generation and application of new knowledge. DLI expands the boundaries of research systems and roles of TSOs as supporters within them. DLI builds on partnerships between NGOs, farmers' organisations, and women's associations; it integrates researchers and research organisations to develop, manage and report knowledge generation and application. DLI is dynamic and developmental with learning for all participants central to the process. DLI unsettles current power structures within research systems and sees research and knowledge generation as a supporter rather than leader of development. DLI is embedded in an inquiring systems approach and applies six interrelated conceptual systems thinking tools. The approach emerged from, and was applied in, a twelve-year agricultural research project in India, and was subsequently introduced to, and further developed in a research project in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor farmers are particularly vulnerable to environmental stressors and often rely on traditional knowledge and grassroots creativity to help them to adapt. Such adaptation can be enhanced using other knowledge sources, but this requires greater understanding of the processes of knowledge co-production among scientists, local communities and state actors. In this study we undertook knowledge co-production on an experimental basis with two contrasting communities: smallholder farmers in Jind (Haryana) and Adi women in East Siang district (Arunachal Pradesh). We found that the Jind farmers displayed grassroots creativity in coping with salinity induced stresses to rice-wheat cropping systems, while Adi women applied their traditional knowledge of food based on namdung (Perilla ocymoides, a local plant species) to cope with climate variability that affected fermentation. Jind farmers perceived the process of knowledge co-production as moderately credible and salient , but the legitimacy of the exercise was compromised by the relatively low level of participation by state actors. The farmers rated the practical outcomes of the co-produced zero-till wheat as low to moderate for combating salinity-induce risks but as high for a community rice nursery. The knowledge co-production process was considered more credible and salient among younger Adi women than older women, and the utility of the Adi women's co-produced adaptive practices were rated as moderate to high for reducing the impacts of climate variability on namdung based foods. In both cases, an emergent property of the knowledge co-production exercise was creation of a knowledge network that has the potential to lead to ongoing enhanced adaptation to environmental change. Insights from the study could help improve knowledge co-production in similar social-ecological systems, and can be integrated with environmental change policies. [Display omitted] • Resource-poor farmers are particularly vulnerable to environmental change. • Local knowledge with science was used in knowledge co-production for environmental adaptation. • Most farmers viewed the process of knowledge co-production positively. • Knowledge co-production was salient and credible but sometimes lacked legitimacy. • Creation of knowledge networks among participants emerged as an unexpected benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poultry Producer Company is collectivizing the smallholder poultry farmers and helps them to perform poultry farming scientifically and efficiently. The present study was conducted on women poultry farmers of Madhya Pradesh to study the impact of poultry producer company on the adoption of improved technologies of poultry farming amongst smallholder farmers. Ex-post facto research design was used in the study. Multistage sampling was done for the selection of respondents and a total of 140 members and 140 non-member women farmers were selected randomly for data collection. After the application of propensity score matching, 96 members and 96 non-members were found suitable for data analysis and interpretation of results. It was found that the majority of the members had high level of adoption of improved poultry technologies while majority of non-members had medium level of adoption of poultry technologies. The adoption quotient for member and non-member farmers was 83.75 and 37.92%, respectively. There was a significant difference in the overall adoption rate of members compared to non-members at 0.1% significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research on crop genetic enhancement has created a continuous flow of new, improved germplasm for the benefit of farmers and consumers of the Global South during and after the Green Revolution. Understanding farmers' heterogeneous preferences for varietal traits in different market segments and incorporating the prominent ones in crop breeding programs are expected to facilitate a faster diffusion of these new varieties. Albeit knowing little about farmers' trait preferences in South Asia, public-sector breeding programs prioritize yield enhancement and risk reduction over other varietal traits. Against this backdrop, we examined wheat farmers' preferences for varietal traits in Central India, where the prevailing varietal turnover rate has been meager. We conducted a ranking exercise among 120 individuals, followed by a sex-disaggregated survey with a choice experiment among 420 farm-households in 2019. The lowest varietal turnover rate was observed for the socially marginalized castes. Most women respondents were not actively involved in making decisions related to wheat cultivation, including varietal selection. However, the results indicate that marginalized caste and women farmers are open to experimentation with new varieties, as shown by their positive willingness to pay for improved varietal traits. Across the gender and caste groups, grain quality attributes (especially chapati quality) were ranked high, above the yield-enhancing and risk-ameliorating traits. From the observed patterns, one could deduce that developing and disseminating improved varieties with better grain quality and targeting women and marginalized social groups in varietal dissemination programs could enhance farmer adoption of new, improved germplasm and wheat productivity in Central India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While authoritarian states promoting neoliberal forms of governance have taken advantage of COVID-19 to weaken the foundations of civil society, there has also been a significant rise in contemporary struggles for a more democratic society during and around the pandemic. From December 2019 to November 2021, India has seen a significant number of protests. The timeline of collective resistance against the state and its divisive, violent and neoliberal agenda represents a critical juncture in Indian politics. This paper focuses on the farmers' protests that started from last November and recently ended in a stunning, hard-earned victory. In a sector that is overwhelmingly male-dominated and deeply patriarchal, women farmers have come out on the streets protesting the controversial Farm Laws hastily passed by the Indian government in September 2019 that threatened to corporatize farming and increase exploitation and marginalisation of small farmers. What is most interesting about the farmers' protests is large-scale participation of women across caste, class, occupational, and religious divide which has changed the composition and dynamics of collective resistance and demonstrate how organised and collective resistance can become symbols of solidarity and intersectional dissent. The paper will examine the role of gender and female agency in protests by female occupying bodies in physical spaces particularly when under the pretext of COVID -19 crisis management the state has severely pushed back against citizens right to dissent and fight for justice. The farmer's protest has brought to the fore women's role in mass mobilisations. Women's participation in the protest has tremendous significance for women's movement for justice, equality and rights and can pose a real challenge to the return of the 'Strong State'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the findings of an extensive questionnaire-based survey conducted in two Indian states of West Bengal and Gujarat, this paper investigates whether the concentration of women's labour contributions to agriculture has improved their autonomy in decision-making. It shows that women's labour burdens have increased without associated benefits, and raises the question of the invisibility of the 'preparatory work' that women do on and off the farm to support agriculture. The findings lead to the conclusion that for farming in India to thrive and ensure fulfilling lives for women farmers, the policymakers need to address rural women's discontent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eka Nari Sanghathan (ENS), an Indigenous single women farmer's collective in Odisha, India and Norco Dairy in regional NSW, Australia are cooperatives undertaking collective action to 'survive well', securing agrarian livelihoods in the face of climate change. Striking differences in affluence and poverty separate these place‐based cooperatives while other things connect them: an Earth unsettled by climate change and extractivist/capitalist interventions. Both cooperatives transform place in practice by engaging similar survival strategies and non‐exploitative forms of cooperation. In this paper we seek to articulate the transformative nature of these places and practices in a way that goes beyond easy binaries of local/global, while enabling recognition of different affiliations between lands, related climate crisis and sustainable and shared surviving mechanisms. We develop a 'two‐thirds' perspective building upon Bruno Latour's third attractor, the Terrestrial, together with another third, Chakrabarti, Dhar and Cullenberg's idea of the World of the Third (WOT). Their interventions open our thinking to the ecological particularities, uncertainties, and postcapitalist possibilities of surviving well in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using gender-disaggregated data on land operations from India, this study demonstrates a relationship between seasonal or short-term migration for work and feminization of farm management. Using a nationally representative dataset covering 35,604 rural Indian households in 2013, the study identifies whether women are taking on the role of farm managers in households with short-term migrants. Results show that women are less likely than men to be decision makers on farms. This dynamic changes when there is short-term migration in the household, with a greater probability of women being decision makers on farms. These results are robust to concerns over omitted variables, endogeneity, and sample selection issues. The study highlights the importance of unpacking the feminization process to better understand the role of women as farm managers and the need for supporting this transition to ensure that women farmers realize their full potential. HIGHLIGHTS Short-term migration (STM) is integral to household livelihood strategy in rural India. Feminization of agricultural labor is distinct from the feminization of farm management. In households with STM, women are more likely to be engaged with farm decisions. Effect of STM is stronger for spouse of household head or unmarried daughters. Effect of STM is weaker when there are more adult men in the household. Individual-level data for time use, agricultural decisions, and migration are important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pollution governance in India. • Caste. • Disasters. • Kerala. This paper draws on fieldwork conducted in the agriultural village of Kathikudam in the South Indian state of Kerala. The paper looks at the ways in which the production of knowledge of contemporary pollution governance in India is configured through the reproduction of marginalization through the devluation of knowledge held by racialized and caste/d subsistence women farmers in Kathikudam. This paper also illuminates how this production of knowledge and the attendant marginality it produces creates a sedimented form of disaster in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women in India perform a range of roles in wheat-based agricultural systems. However, data remain sparse. Cultural norms which construct men as farmers serve to conceal women's contributions from researchers and rural advisory services. We use data from communities in four Indian states, selected to exemplify high and low gender gaps, to provide insights into how women are challenging norms which privilege male decision-making in order to participate in innovation processes. We hypothesized the transitioning of women from labourers in wheat to innovators and managers of wheat is likely to be far from straightforward. We further hypothesized that women are actively managing the processes unleashed by various sources of change. We use the concept of doxa—ideas and actions in a society that are taken for granted and are beyond questioning—as an analytic lens to help us understand the ways in which women deploy their agency to secure their goals. Our analysis allows us to develop a 'A typology of women's strategies to strengthen their managerial decision-making power in wheat'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cultural and historical dimensions of rural lives matter. However, development practitioners and writings tend to play down these aspects. This article demonstrates the significance of oral history in revealing the meanings of women smallholders' millet-based foodways in southern India. It argues that women farmers' cultural practices around food constitute fundamental 'capabilities' nurtured over a long historical duration, and are essential to any meaningful articulation of 'development'. Drawing on age-old spiritual beliefs and practices involving non-human entities, the women demonstrate fine-tuned skills in nurturing seeds and growing crops, in preparing and cooking food, and in discerning food tastes, particularly in relation to the local staple ragi, or finger millet. They also express their creativity in the joys of performing songs and farming rituals linked to the agricultural cycle. In this way, cultural capabilities express significant dimensions of women's agency exercised in the intimately related spheres of food and farming. Oral history thus emerges as a research method capable of generating insights into concrete manifestations of culture over a significant historical duration, one that is particularly conducive to reclaiming the voices and life experiences of subaltern groups such as women smallholders who are either not heard or are marginalized in written contemporary and historical documentary records. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite rapid economic growth since the 1990s and agricultural reforms, India continues to be home to the largest number of the poor and the hungry in the world. Food security continues to elude large sections of vulnerable population, particularly in rural India. Different welfare schemes that have been initiated have increased their dependency on the government. As agriculture continues to be the backbone of rural economy employing the largest chunk of the population, despite its contribution to the GDP falling, the paper argues that agriculture and its allied activities need to be strengthened not only to feed millions but to ensure self-reliance of rural India. Further, as there is an increase of women-headed households and the feminization of agriculture, empowerment of women is crucial in reducing poverty and dependency in the rural economy while also ensuring food security. In this regard, the paper argues that ownership rights of land and other resources of production to women will empower them socially and economically, and increase their decision-making powers in family and community. These entitlements will build their capabilities and ensure food security, wherein family gets access to food and nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agricultural sector plays a strategic role in the process of economic development of a country. Today, this sector as a whole has developed and expanded immensely with the growth of science and technology, and there is a growing realisation and commitment among the global community that the agriculture sector has to undergo changes for a sustainable and broadbased expansion, after addressing gender-related issues through the initiation and partnerships of various national, regional, and global institutions. In developing countries like India, agriculture continues to absorb and employ the female workforce, but fails to recognise their role and importance as an employed labour force. In developing countries, women participation in the agricultural labour force is 38%. However, a large number of women have been treated as an insignificant part of the active agricultural labour force; there is also a growing gap between women's actual economic participation and public perception about their economic participation. At this juncture, there is a growing need for the agricultural research agenda to overcome the existing gaps and to tackle the emerging problems of sustainable development and livelihood of resource-poor women farmers. Several researchers have attempted to overcome this gap through empirical research studies on gender analysis and gender roles. The present study is an attempt to highlight the trend of female workforce participation in the agricultural sector across various Indian states. The secondary data is used to analyse the growth trend of the agricultural workers over the last decade. Suitable solutions have to be delivered to women farmers for raising their productivity, through which their overall empowerment may be targeted. Other practical solutions should also be taken up to help and support women farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The poultry sector of modern India has changed from the backyard to become commercially organized. The poultry Farming plays a crucial role to improve the socio-economic condition of rural people, generate gainful employment and increase military income, especially among landless labourers, small and marginal farmers and women in rural communities. Backyard poultry production promotes income opportunities, particularly for the weaker sections in the rural and tribal areas. This article is based on survey of literature of secondary sources. It analyses the impact of the poultry farm sector in terms of sustainable livelihood, economic development, and employment generation. Furthermore it also looks it as a method of participatory governance in reducing rural poverty. Moreover, results and discussion is drawn with the help of data analysis which depicts in 7 districts out of 28 districts has government poultry farms where they distribute chicks and enhance and support poultry Farming, provide training/ workshops regarding poultry Farming in rural areas. Lastly conclusion has been made. The current improvement strategies adopted has shown promising result but needs to be strengthened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the impact of a house-hold, post-harvest processing unit on the nutritional, economic, and social status of rural women. Solar Conduction Dryer (SCD) is an electricity-free, solar-powered food dehydrator for the production of dried vegetables, fruits, marine, and meat-based products. SCD was provided to 200 rural women farmers in the Aurangabad district of India. The availability of the dryer enabled the women to preserve seasonal produce during the surplus season and consume it during the lean period. An increase of 36% in the Women's Dietary Diversity Score was observed in the intervention group as compared to the control group in the lean season, indicating increased food accessibility and availability. Providing the appropriate market linkage and initial hand-holding helped the women to earn additional income through the sale of the dehydrated products. This research explores the sustainability of the said technological intervention and its role in agri-nutrition linkage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smallholder cattle farming in Assamese villages is sub-optimal in terms of calf survivability, growth, age at first service, and milk yield. Proper understanding of the local situation is essential to formulate appropriate, locally driven, livestock keeper education to sustainably improve animal health, welfare and productivity. In-depth interviewing and direct observation were used to understand the farming strategies, husbandry practices and challenges to health and productivity in a cluster of typical villages in the Kaziranga region of Assam, India, where resource use is balanced between the needs of humans and livestock, with competition from wild species. Knowledge of the importance of colostrum consumption by calves is poor. Timely consumption of sufficient colostrum (locally called "phehu") by calves was clearly sub-optimal in the majority of households. The reasons behind this are nuanced, but the practice of collecting colostrum from newly calved cows to make confectionery for human consumption is an important contributory factor. Care of the umbilicus of the newborn is not routine practice in the locality. Local women are the key group assisting with young and sick animals, including cases of simple dystocia and retained foetal membranes. Cows are usually milked once daily, to attempt to balance the needs for milk of household with those of the calf, which can result in suboptimal nutrition for calves. There are clear opportunities to improve animal health and productivity through locally provided farmer education, particularly with reference to colostrum provision, and the engagement of women farmers in any such programme is key to success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current debates in India on work, employment and labour markets have paid rather little attention to three important distinctions: between sustainable livelihoods and labour force participation; between autonomously managing non-family enterprises versus participation in decision-making within the confines of family enterprises; and between cooperation among workers for larger economic returns versus atomised individuals competing for work or livelihoods in unequal markets. This paper conceptually outlines the importance of focusing on work through the lens of livelihoods, autonomy and collectivity, especially for women. Empirically, it analyses whether group farming, wherein women farmers voluntarily pool land, labour, capital and skills to cultivate jointly, while sharing costs and benefits, can help them overcome their production constraints, create viable livelihoods, and gain autonomous identities as farmers? How well can women's group farms perform in comparison with male-managed small family farms? Based on meticulously undertaken primary surveys of group farming in Kerala and Telangana, the paper compares all-women group farms with largely male-managed small family farms in the same state, in terms of productivity and profits. It also examines the impact on women's skill capabilities and status, which state is more effective and why, and the lessons these experiences hold for replication elsewhere. New and emerging experiments with farmers' collectives in eastern India and Gujarat, including all-male and mixed-gender groups, suggest that the group farming model can be adapted effectively to varying contexts. The paper thus demonstrates the importance and potential of transforming the institutions within which work is done, in order to enhance both worker well-being and productivity gains. In conclusion, it reflects on the concept of the Social and Solidarity Economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence from climate-smart village (CSV) approach to mainstream climate-smart agriculture (CSA) demonstrates improved productivity, income, and reduced climatic risks. However, its contribution to gender empowerment in diverse farming households is not documented. This study creates a Gender Empowerment Index for climate-smart villages (GEI-CSV) based on four major measurable indicators—political, economic, agricultural, and social. The gender gap was derived by mapping difference in empowerment levels across selected CSVs and non-CSVs. These indicators can be used as a vital tool to understand the process of gender empowerment that can trigger the entry points to achieve gender equality, which is also an important aspect in the adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices (CSAPs). The study measures empowerment at the inter-household and intra-household level across CSVs and non-CSVs from the individual household survey with both female and male members of the same household. This paper provides evidence demonstrating how gender empowerment differs in CSVs and non-CSVs from selected climate-smart villages (community-based approach) in two contrasting ecologies and socio-economic settings of India. The study documents the existing gender gap in CSVs and non-CSVs across India's western (Haryana) and eastern (Bihar) Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). Irrespective of CSVs and non-CSVs, considerable differences in outlook and gender gap were observed between Bihar and Haryana. Both women and men in Bihar are less empowered than they are in Haryana. High empowerment level in CSVs than non-CSVs shows that the concept of CSVs has brought a change towards knowledge and capacity enhancement of both women and men farmers promoting gender equality in farming households with a varying scope of interventions made and required for scaling CSAPs across the diversity of farming households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is rising interest among research and development practitioners to arrive at impact driven solutions in the field of gender and climate change adaptation. Climate change adaptation interventions can be better targeted by being linked with type of climatic risks experienced by women farmers, their social profile and their needs based on the role they play in agriculture. This study presents a methodology to identify hotspots where climate change adaptation and gender based interventions could be prioritized. The methodology is illustrated for India. The results suggest 36 hotspots across 10 states in India, where large number of women farmers are impacted by high levels of drought probability, excess rainfall and heat wave. The target population in these hotspots comprise 14.4% of the total women farmers in the country. A socioeconomic characterization of the hotspot population highlights barriers, such as labor, credit and market access for female cultivators and lower wage rates for female laborers in these hotspots. Based on the constraints as well as the climatic risks faced by these women in the hotspots, the potential of climate-smart agriculture technologies and practices are emphasized. Additionally, a comparison of current research being done in the field with the results of the study highlights the potential to learn from current efforts for efficient scalability of gender and climate change adaptation interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's agricultural systems are increasingly affected by climate change's adverse effects. The Government of India has an impressive set of programs to address this issue, but they have substantial shortcomings, especially in reaching women farmers. We aim to understand policy and implementation gaps in reaching women farmers with climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices and study how women and men farmer's different roles in agriculture shape their needs and access to complementary services needed to adapt to climate change. An extensive review of India's agriculture and climate policies and program and a series of focus group discussions with farmers in Gujarat, India to discuss constraints and potential entry points for better reaching women farmers with CSA practices. Women's increased vulnerability to climate change and reduced access to CSA practices can be attributed to limited land ownership, poor access to credit, reduced access to information and formal extension, and multiple pressures on their time. Village cooperatives and self-help groups can be leveraged to support women's access to agricultural information and adoption of CSA practices. This paper highlights constraints to information and extension access by Indian women farmers that could impede the widespread adoption of CSA practices. It fills an important knowledge gap in designing gender-responsive policies and inclusive agricultural extension systems to promote adoption of CSA practices among smallholder farmers. [Display omitted] • Women farmers have limited land ownership, access to credit, access to information and formal extension, and time, constraining adoption of climate smart practices. • Building gender-responsive extension systems is critical for promoting adoption of climate smart agriculture practices. • Knowledge of gendered experience of climate change, availability of gender-disaggregated data and gendered analyses are important aspects. • Participatory approaches to policy making and involvement of local and community organizations needs to be strengthened in India. • Village cooperatives and self-help groups can be key intermediary organizations to support women's access to information and adoption of CSA practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labor‐saving and income‐increasing technologies may affect women farmers differently from men. However, very few studies explicitly account for women's preferences for new technologies. We carried out a discrete choice experiment with 337 female and 329 male farmers in Maharashtra, India, to measure their willingness to pay (WTP) for direct‐seeded rice (DSR) with drum seeder and to understand the gender differences in marginal valuations of key attributes. We used the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) to collect self‐reported data on the role and say of women in different domains of decision making. The respective gender roles of women and men in the family and on the farm are aligned with their preferences. Men have a greater say over how the family spends the cash. Accordingly, men tend to have a higher WTP for attributes that increase income (increase in yield) or reduce cash costs (reduction in seed rate). Women contribute a large share of the labor for transplanting rice, much of which is unpaid work on family farms. Women, therefore, seem to value labor saving more. Women in our sample were more interested in the new technology and had a higher WTP for it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several projects claim that organic farming empowers women and promotes gender equality. To explore the effects of organic farming initiatives on the empowerment of women as perceived by female farmers, a qualitative field study with interviews in Odisha (India) was conducted. Results show that, although organic farming has positive impacts on women, such as improvements in health and food security, there are significant draw-backs due to factors such as the additional workload. Women are also widely excluded from business decisions in organic farming, as the investigated organic initiative works within traditional gender patterns. Although female farmer groups exist, women are neither included on the cooperative level nor in agricultural training on organic methods, which leads to the reinforcement of deeply embedded gender inequality. Fully exploiting the potential for empowering women through organic farming and increasing gender equality in India would require technical training and working beyond traditional social structures, to include women in higher administrative levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted among 153 women dairy farmers of three districts of Kerala with the objectives of studying the socio-personal profile of women dairy farmers of Kerala state, to identify potential areas for intervention and design of appropriate strategies with a view to improving entrepreneurial traits specifically among women in this sector. Just over one-third (35.30%) of the respondents with one cow unit had low level of education while only 15.68 percent of women with two cow units and 9.80 percent of women with more than two cow units fell in this group. Most of the women in all the three categories had medium level of education (64.05%). Very few women (9.80%) with one cow unit had high level of education. More than half of the women dairy farmers had received trainings. Among women dairy farmers with one cow unit, however more than half had not received any trainings. Nearly 60 percent of those with two cows had received trainings while among respondents with more than two cows the corresponding figure was 68.63 percent. Most of the farm women fell in the two categories up to 50 cents and 51cents to one acre. Just 5.88 percent of the respondents had land holding above two acres while slightly over 12 percent had land holdings between 1.1 acres and 2 acres. None of the women with one cow unit had land holding above two acres while 7.84 percent of those with two cow units and nearly onetenth of women with more than two cows fell in this category. Nearly half of the respondents (50.98%) with one cow unit had medium level of social participation while the remaining half were nearly equally distributed among the low (25.49%) and high (23.53%) social participation levels. More than half of the women with two cow units (56.86 %) had medium social participation while 27.45 percent and 15.69 percent had high and low social participation respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social norms can determine the effectiveness of agricultural research-and-development (R&D) interventions to enable inclusive rural development. However, only a few methods have been tested and deemed appropriate to assess the strength of social norms in empirical research. In this paper, we explore the potential of vignettes to study gender norms across different caste groups in the Indian rurality. The primary data were collected through a gender-differentiated survey among 420 wheat-farming households in 18 rural villages of Central India in 2018. The data analysis showed significant inter- and intra-household heterogeneities concerning individuals' realization of social norms as factors curtailing individual aspirations. When the follow-up responses were evaluated against respondents' socio-cultural context, we found that respondents from marginalized castes, women, and young people were more pro-women in their outlook than others. We also found that the individual responses elicited from women farmers were strongly associated with their decision-making abilities and could be employed in empirical studies concerning various R&D interventions and technological change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farm women are the backbone of Indian agriculture. They represent the invisible work forces in a gamut of activities ranging from land preparation till harvest of the agricultural produce. The mass media utilization behavior of farm women is central to equipping women with the latest developments in farming technology and honing their technical skills which leads to their increased productivity in their farm and home. A study was conducted on a sample of 30 farm women to analyze their mass media utilization behavior. The findings revealed that, majority (60 per cent) had primary level of education, 90 per cent possessed radio and most of them were members of Farmers Discussion Groups (FDG's); and were regular listeners to agricultural programs on radio. They were also members of Youth Clubs, Magalir Mandrams (women's associations) and Media forums. Besides these women regularly attended training programs in agriculture and allied areas, imparted by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. Only 10 percent of women were regular subscribers to farm magazines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulses (food legumes) occupy an important place in Indian agriculture. It provides food, nutrition and Environmental security in bringing income and employment opportunity through various improved technological interventions. Being the largest producer and consumer of pulses, India has to import 3-4 mt of pulses every year to meet its domestic demand. There is an urgent need to increase both productivity and production of pulses to bridge the gap between demand and supply. India needs to provide 39 mt of pulses with the availability of 52 g capita-1 day-1 of 1.69 billion people in the projected year of 2050. An additional area of 3-5 mha has to be brought under pulses with a productivity of 1200 kg ha1 against the current productivity of 841 kg ha1. New research efforts should be attempted to achieve a breakthrough in productivity of pulses. Development of widely adaptable short duration varieties with biotic and abiotic stress resistance, participation of rural youths in producing good quality seeds and establishing village seed hubs, preparation of value added products by women farmers in SHGs, raising minimum support price (MSP) and ensuring procurement are the key factors towards achieving self sufficiency in pulse production. This will increase income, combat malnutrition and provide employment for better livelihood of the resource poor farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Woman empowerment is the process of building a woman's capacity to be self-reliant and to develop her sense of inner strength. Dairying in India is a female dominated enterprise. It is established beyond doubt that women always participated in dairy and animal husbandry activities in addition to their daily household chores. Women spent more time than men in dairy production activities. Training is one of the important aspects of empowerment, which can enhance knowledge, improve skill and change the attitude of rural women. Selection of breed, compounding balanced feed using locally available ingredients, feeding during pregnancy, health care and banking and insurance were the most preferred areas of training in dairy farming. The overall adoption level of the trained dairy farm women was higher than untrained dairy farm women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the effects of the fair trade movement on a smallholder tea farmers' cooperative in rural Darjeeling, India, with a particular focus on women's experiences of and attitudes toward free trade. According to the author, fair trade interventions sometimes reinforce existing gendered power relations in produce communities. Women's creative adaptation of free trade practices and the Nepali concept of fair trade known as swaccha vyāpār are discussed.

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As selective breeding programs are time-consuming and expensive, it is critical that clients preferred traits are accurately identified. This is important to achieve value for money and adoption of selectively improved fish, and an essential foundation for effective contributions of genetic improvements to farming system. Data on fish trait preferences of smallholder farmers are rare; when these do exist, there is no information on whether the preferences of men and women are similar or not. The present work reports the first gender-disaggregated study of trait preferences of men and women from farming households for rohu carp (L. rohita) in Bangladesh (288 respondents) and India (270 respondents), addressing a major segment of aquaculture production in south Asia. The paper generates a nuanced, novel, and comparative understanding of the preferred characteristics through a survey of smallholder farmers that: 1) uses open-ended questions relating to producer and consumer perspectives; and, 2) applies a stated choice experiment using 1000minds software to address trade-offs in choices between traits for a subset of (58–38) respondents. General preferences derived from expressed likes or dislikes emphasized the importance of good taste, characteristics indicating freshness and safety such as aspects of appearance and color, as expected for a perishable product, and of value for money, including size of fish or relative flesh quantity. The overall pattern of preferences were similar for men and women, but there were differences in that men focused more on economic-related characteristics and women more on characteristics associated with nutritional value and food safety. When producers identified what to improve, they focused on larger size fish, reduced culture period, fry survival and disease resistance. When choosing between traits in pair-wise comparison exercises, ranking of traits was similar for both men and women in both Bangladesh and India. Significant differences were only observed between genders for the lower ranked traits in Bangladesh. Larger size fish as a charateristic ranked first in all groups, but there were marked differences between the importance of price and taste in the two countries. Methodologically, the study demonstrated that general preferences, do not automatically translate into characteristics for improvement by breeding programs, and the latter were not necessarily an accurate guide to the preferences expressed when specific tradeoffs were considered. These findings emphasize the need for well-designed and targeted surveys to be able to accurately define trait preferences, in particular to identify the relative values of heritable traits for practical application in breeding programs. • This is the first report of trait preferences of men and women farmers for rohu carp (L. rohita) in Bangladesh and India. • The study captures production and consumption perspective of fish producers in a dual-household survey • Mixed method and stated choice experiment (i.e. 1000 minds software) approaches are adapted • The priority focus in India was larger sized fish but in Bangladesh on improved growth rate and reduced culture period. • The study emphasize the need for specific questions to be able to accurately define trait preferences for breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study dialogue which enables the participants to understand the concept of spiritual leadership in business management in India. The case study involves an illiterate farm worker named Chinnapillai who received the Indian Merchant Chambers (IMC) Ladies wing-Jankidevi Bajaj Award for rural entrepreneurship in 2000. The process of the case study dialogue is highlighted

A study was conducted on farm women of Women and Youth Training Extension Project (WYTEP) beneficiary (200) and non-beneficiary (100) to know the effect of WYTEP on food security of farm women in Mandya district of Karnataka. The mean intake of farm women of WYTEP beneficiary was found to be protein (47.3 g), fat (17.2 g), Iron(23.4mg),vitamin A (512μg), riboflavin(1.0mg), Niacin(13.8mg) and energy (2051K.cal) where as it was comparatively less among the non beneficiary group. The study was also revealed that the intake of nutrients by the farm women of both the groups were below the RDA except calcium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Present exploratory investigation was conducted to explore the perceived intricacies of farm women aspiring to undertake agribusiness activities. The study was conducted in randomly selected three villages from Bhiwani district of Haryana state on a sample of 240 farmwomen respondents who were willing to undertake agri- business activities like mushroom cultivation, dairy farming, beekeeping and vermicomposting It was found that among the various intricacies perceived by the farmwomen in undertaking agri- business activities lack of training and opportunities, lack of support and counseling economic incredibility being women and lack of risk orientation were the major ones. The most commonly perceived intricacies were social in nature followed by educational and personal intricacies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examines the drudgery of women in agriculture in India. It has been identified that agricultural workloads such as top dressing of fertilizer and weeding have resulted to drudgery that affect the childbearing and rearing stages of women. The study used the heart rate as an indicator to assess the physiological workload of farm women. Thirty healthy, non-pregnant women who perform agricultural activities regularly without cardiovascular problem were selected in the study. The purpose of this study was to analyze the circulatory stress and to assess the musculo-skeletal problems of these women.

COVID-19 induced lockdowns have had far reaching impacts on the rural sector, particularly on women farmers. These impacts have been exacerbated by lack of access to reliable and timely agriculture information. Using panel phone survey data from India and Nepal, we study how women's access to agricultural extension was impacted by the lockdowns and its effect on agricultural productivity. We find that women's already low access to formal extension was reduced further, leading to an increased reliance on informal social networks. In both countries, nearly 50% farmers reported negative impacts on productivity due to inaccessibility of information during the lockdown. In India, we find that access to formal extension is mediated by crop type, geographic location and caste identity. We discuss ways in which extension systems in India and Nepal can be made more inclusive and resilient to future crisis, including by adapting group and community-based approaches to post-pandemic best practices. Unlabelled Image • Phone surveys to study women's access to extension in India & Nepal during pandemic • Nearly 50% farmers report negative impacts due to unavailability of information • Increased reliance on informal and unorganized sources of extension during lockdown • Building gender-responsive extension systems critical for crisis preparedness • Women-led, group and community-based approaches to extension hold promise [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]