Recently a survey was conducted on working women by the economic survey sector. The data pops up
to 14% of farmers are women. This number shows that we are growing day by day and it is good. In a
country like Thailand, 50% of women come under the farmer’s category. Women farmers are
progressively nurturing their work in farming.
Whenever we hear the word farmer we rarely think about the women, always refer to farmers in the male gender and never even imagine about the women. Now, the time is spinning and we need to review this. The number that I gave 14% should be more than the count but for instance, we have received this rate because most of the women don’t own land and some were not recognized. There is a huge percentage left unrecognized and so the percentage rate was not accurate. Women engage in farming operations, feeding and keeping dairy cattle, poultry birds, goats, and other livestock at home, and are involved in the production of agriculture output. They perform their work behind the screen and so they are left unrecognized by society. A major glitch is that they don’t hold any property rights. This made challenges to those women who work in farmland not getting access to a bank credit facility and several other benefits from the government. The revenue that they receive will directly be transacted to their husband’s account. Hence we can identify that women suffer from not being financially independent and will not find better solutions for their hard work. In rural areas, there are self-help groups that give support to women and ensure government property rights for women.
Women were not far away from the digital revolution as they worked with the latest digital technologies
along with digital literacy. If women are trained with digital skills this makes them empowered, eradicates the financial problems of the family and makes them strong by availing the facilities from the government. This helps them to increase the family’s income and gives better land for their efforts.
In the last six years, we can find a good number of the progress of women in corporate boards. There is
a slight rate increase, from 11.4% to 17.6%. Even though the number is in the hike, we are lacking behind in the case of the US, UK, and Europe where the rate is around 30-35%. We feel great that women are shifting from their corporate world to farmland and living their life with full confidence and spirit. Nowadays, agriculture is revolving around digital technologies, and so an agri-tech start-up system is planning to implement and ensure women’s participation. It is essential to provide women with relevant skills and train them in these new ventures. We need to appreciate their innovative skills and get them implemented very soon.
Women and farmers both are revered in print and oration going on practice to exploit their sections of the society. The tag “Annadata” shows the great revolution to the farmers as is the tag “Grihalakshmi” to the women. These discussions glorify the actual backwardness of farmers’ lives.
