Veena Parmar
While addressing conclave on Natural Farming on 22 December 2021 at Anand, Gujarat, PM Modi stated that time has come to correct the past mistakes before they become gangrene adding that there is a dire need to take away agriculture from chemical and physical laboratories and connect it with nature’s laboratory.
70 % population of our country is engaged in agriculture out of which above 2/3rd are small farmers. Major part of UT of J&K is hilly and forested. Therefore majority of farmers in our UT are marginal and small. Fertile agriculture land is a rarity in hilly areas and another remarkable rarity in our UT is women in big farming. Why there is no women big name in farming or agro-business in J&K despite the fact J&K is a great producer of Bastmati Rice, most delicious apple, dry fruits and saffron, to talk of few, with another despite that they are an important segment of the agricultural activity in J&K. Entire Tea production in India and Saffron production in Kashmir is women led. Women are into sowing and harvesting of cereals and pulses as much as men which was obvious during the year long farmers protest in the Capital and elsewhere wherever the protests were held. Women participation in the said agitation, in large numbers and great enthusiasm shown by them to get the laws repealed proves that women are an important segment of farming community. Yet they are not formally recognised as farmers. When it comes to recognition and ownership of land, it is still a men domain.
Paddy, maize and wheat are the main crops in J&K. Rest of the agriculture products comes from outside. The growing burden of feeding ever increasing mouths which are adding in thousands every second in India’s 1.3 billion plus population is a big challenge in the country. It calls for revolutionary steps to increase agriculture production.
Post Article 370, lot of development is taking place in J&K and MOUs worth 18700 Crore have been signed recently for development projects. Hence population in terms of mouths to be fed is going to increase drastically. If due attention is given to this aspect, J&K needs to increase agriculture production. While the farmers should be keen to increase their production but there are various imponderable which are discouraging them from it. One of them is monkey menace. There is no solution to this nightmare in sight. Moreover irrigation facilities are restricted to plains only. Rest of the area is rain dependent. Kandi Canal, proposal pending since long, must be inaugurated by PM during his next visit to J&K. Maize is eaten and destroyed by monkeys and pigs. Fruits are eaten and destroyed by monkeys. Hence a solution to these problems is a dire need. It is the responsibility of the govt and agriculture department to help and guide farmers to either switch over to alternatives or resolve the issue in the backdrop of PM Modi’s declaration of doubling farmers income by 2022.
Major take away from women participation in agitation is that agriculture land is as dear as an ornament to women. They are cautious of their responsibilities in farming family. They don’t want to see the agriculture mortgaged to rich businessmen. Where agriculture is the only source of livelihood of family, there the women are more in the forefront. This is more common in Kandi and Hilly areas of J&K and is well known. While the men go out to earn for expenses of the family, the women take over the work in the fields in the absence of men folk and perform all the agricultural activities from sowing to harvesting including irrigating, weeding, fertilising, harvesting, processing and even sale or storage besides cattle herding. Their indulgence to that extent is not a small job. Yet they are not considered part of agriculture economy of the nation. If India is to grow faster economically, it is imperative that women are made part of agriculture and economic development initiatives in India and given the status of land-lady, (antonym to landlord) and the family land records have both male & female as owners.
More and more farmers are leaving farming and switching over to other professions. But women back home don’t detach from agriculture. They carry out the farming activities regularly. Contrary to that, Youth are just not interested in agriculture because for them it is considered a non-remunerative profession. That is a myth. The falsehood is perhaps the influence of social media suggesting immense opportunities in other sectors. If women are encouraged in agriculture, it is likely that sons will start helping mothers in the fields and get motivated. Otherwise agriculture is going to suffer adversely effecting national economy.
The geography of J&K is full of diversity with diverse agro-opportunities. But it is under stress. In most of the places it is hostage to migrant labour besides imponderables. During the harvesting season they return as a result agriculture activities suffer. That is also the reason that women can be a substitute in dire circumstances.
This year National Farmers’ Day theme was, ‘Powering the farmers; Making Prosperity to the Nation’. The theme depicts that if the agricultural sector and the farmers are empowered, nation will grow. Majority of the rural population including the women are engaged in this sector. Therefore next year’s Farmers Day theme should be, “Powering the women farmers; Making the nation Prosperous”.
Other reasons for encouraging women to adopt agriculture in J&K are:-
Employment Avenue. There are few employment options to the women. Instead of pushing them to low paid MGNREGA, might as well lure them to agro-business to increase their income. There is shortage of storage facilities. Women entrepreneurs should be encouraged and helped to open storage facilities for agriculture produce.
Horticulture. It has great potential in J&K, particularly in Jammu. Summer Apple has shown encouraging prospects. Should the monkey menace be taken care of, Summer Apple can add to their income. Lemon, Amla and Citrus fruits also have tremendous potential in Jammu.
Floriculture. Jammu is a city of temples. Local production of flowers doesn’t meet the requirement. Therefore flowers are imported. Hence this cash crop can be easily undertaken by women.
Animal Husbandry. Women are familiar with Poultry and Dairy because almost every household in rural areas will have live stock. Requirement of milk and meat/mutton are on the rise. Hence women have an opportunity to take up poultry and dairy farming to increase their income.
Vegetables. Their production is far less as compared to consumption. Organic vegetables are in great demand these days. Taking cue from PM’s desire to connect agriculture to nature, women can undertake organic farming. Mushroom and honey production are the other crops which women can easily handle.
Time. Traditionally for women the day starts before sunrise and ends well past sunset. They can give time to agriculture. They should get recognition for their hard work. Patriarchal traditions and gender inequality deprives it.
Institutional Support. Since women are not recognized as farmers, they are denied of support from banks, insurance companies, cooperatives and departments.
Adding women in farming is essential in order to accelerate the pace of growth in the agriculture sector and economy of the country. They should be helped technologically and financially to start farming ventures. Their formal recognition as farmers and joint ownership of land will help make women farmers independent and be a partner in connecting agriculture with the nature.
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