[7th March 2026] The Hindu OpED: Right, justice, action for India’s women farmers

Mentor’s Comment

International Women’s Day 2026 coincides with the International Year of the Woman Farmer. This places a renewed global attention on the structural exclusion of women from land ownership, agricultural decision-making, and food systems governance. Despite constituting a significant share of the agricultural workforce in India, women farmers remain largely invisible in policy and institutional frameworks. There is a contradiction between women’s central role in food production and their marginal access to land, credit, technology, and nutrition security. Addressing gender inequalities in agriculture is essential for improving food security, nutrition outcomes, and climate-resilient farming systems.

Why does the issue of women farmers demand urgent attention today?

1. International recognition: International Women’s Day 2026 aligns with the International Year of the Woman Farmer, emphasising gender equality in global food systems.
2. Policy-practice gap: Legal reforms providing equal inheritance rights for daughters have not translated into land ownership for women due to social norms and administrative barriers.
3. Invisible farmers: Women who manage farms and negotiate with labourers often lack legal recognition as farmers, limiting access to credit, crop insurance, irrigation schemes, and extension services.
4. Structural exclusion: Eligibility for government agricultural schemes remains linked to land ownership, which is largely held by men.
5. Nutritional paradox: Women who produce food frequently lack diverse and nutritious diets, with rural diets dominated by cereals and limited access to pulses, fruits, vegetables, and animal-source foods.

How do land ownership patterns restrict women’s participation in agriculture?

1. Patriarchal inheritance: Land titles remain concentrated in male ownership due to patrilineal inheritance practices.
2. Administrative barriers: Limited awareness, bureaucratic hurdles, and social resistance prevent women’s names from appearing in land records.
3. Institutional exclusion: Lack of land titles restricts women’s access to institutional credit, crop insurance, irrigation schemes, and agricultural extension services.
4. Weak bargaining power: Absence of legal ownership reduces women’s influence in agricultural decision-making and market negotiations.
5. Asset deprivation: Women farmers often cultivate land without formal ownership, creating vulnerability in cases of displacement, widowhood, or marital conflict.

Does the feminisation of agriculture translate into empowerment?

1. Labour shift: Male migration has increased women’s role in cultivation, household food provisioning, and farm management.
2. Workload intensification: Women experience dual burdens of productive agricultural labour and reproductive household responsibilities.
3. Limited mechanisation: Lack of access to labour-saving technologies increases drudgery and health risks.
4. Health consequences: Women with heavy workloads, particularly during peak agricultural seasons, face micronutrient deficiencies and health stress.
5. Intergenerational effects: Maternal undernutrition contributes to low birth weight and poor child development outcomes.

Why are nutrition outcomes among women farmers still poor?

1. Cereal-dominated diets: Rural diets remain focused on rice and wheat, with limited consumption of nutrient-dense foods.
2. Persistent anaemia: High prevalence of anaemia among women of reproductive age represents a major public health concern.
3. Intergenerational malnutrition: Maternal undernutrition increases risks of child stunting and developmental deficits.
4. Food security paradox: Women responsible for producing food often lack control over household nutrition choices.

How effective are India’s food security programmes in addressing gender inequality?

1. Food security framework: The National Food Security Act (NFSA) guarantees subsidised cereals and nutritional support for pregnant women and children.
2. Supplementary nutrition: Nutrition programmes include maternal entitlements and supplementary feeding through Anganwadis.
3. State innovations: Some states promote millets, fortified staples, and local foods within food distribution systems.
4. Implementation gaps: Nutrition outcomes remain uneven due to weak programme integration and limited focus on diet diversity.
5. Digital exclusion: Digitalisation of welfare systems can exclude women with poor connectivity, documentation gaps, or limited digital literacy.

What structural reforms are required to strengthen women’s agricultural rights?

1. Land rights reform: Implementation of equal inheritance laws and promotion of joint spousal land titles.
2. Gender-sensitive governance: Ensuring gender-responsive land registration systems and inclusion of women in resource management institutions.
3. Collective institutions: Strengthening women’s collectives and self-help groups to improve bargaining power and access to resources.
4. Policy recognition: Adopting the National Policy for Farmers definition, which recognises farmers based on agricultural activity rather than land ownership.
5. Data visibility: Generating gender-disaggregated agricultural data to inform policy design.

How can women farmers drive climate-resilient agriculture and food security?

1. Technology access: Ensuring access to climate-resilient technologies and agricultural extension services.
2. Knowledge empowerment: Training women farmers in sustainable farming practices and resource management.
3. Labour-saving tools: Adoption of drudgery-reducing technologies improves productivity and health outcomes.
4. Community initiatives: Promotion of kitchen gardens, women’s seed banks, and local food planning.
5. Institutional support: Strengthening linkages between agriculture, nutrition systems, and social protection programmes.

Conclusion

Achieving gender equality in agriculture requires recognition of women as farmers with full rights to land, resources, technology, and decision-making. Strengthening women’s agency in agri-food systems enhances agricultural productivity, improves household nutrition, and strengthens climate resilience. Integrating land reforms, nutrition policies, and institutional support can transform women farmers into central actors of sustainable rural development.