The number of female students taking up agricultural courses in the State has gone up in recent years, with as much as 90 per cent of applicants being women in his university, said K.S. Subramanian, head of department of nanoscience and technology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore.
He made this observation during a panel discussion at a four-day convention held to commemorate International Year of Family Farming, observed by United Nations.
According to eminent agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan, better access to resources for women would help increase their role in farming, and incentives linked to policy changes would empower their participation. “We need to take into account the intellectual contributions of women in farming, and not just their physical ones,” Mr. Swaminathan said, adding that evolutionarily, women had determined the type of crops to cultivate.
President of International Funding for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Kanayo Nwanze, who had toured coastal areas of the State to oversee IFAD projects, observed the beneficiaries were mostly women, who are part of self help groups. Addressing presspersons, he said, on the issue of farmer suicides in the country, “Social entitlements are mandatory to absorb shocks, especially for small holders.” The substantial budgetary allocation to the sector by the Centre is a good move, he added.
Tackling discussions on gender equality, both Mr. Swaminathan and Mr. Nwanze stressed the need for better access to credit, technology, irrigation and insurance, and a need for joint ownership of land to ensure women are benefitted too.
IFAD country manager Nigel Brett reiterated the organisation’s commitment to playing the ‘honest broker’ in order to protect farmers and increase their market and access to credit. “IFAD has nine ongoing projects in the country, benefitting 5.2 million people in 10 States,” he said.
