Riding Tractors, Breaking Barriers: Meet India's New Age Women Farmers

India is an agriculture powerhouse as farming employs over half the country’s workforce. However, little is said about the women farmers who make up a large part of this workforce. As men move from villages to cities, seeking higher incomes, it befalls their wives to manage the farmlands. So what do these women need? 

While women are taking over the roles their husbands once did on the farm, they are still expected to prepare the family’s meals, clean their homes, and take care of the elderly, children and cattle. As per data, over 70 percent of full-time labour on Indian farms are women, however, they remain the unsung heroes of India's agricultural glory. SheThePeople got a chance to speak to a few women farmers who were the beneficiaries of the Prerna programme- launched in October 2017 by Mahindra FES.

The programme aims at transforming the lives of women farmers. It provides them digital empowerment, access to knowledge of improved agricultural practices and digital transactions,  and introduces them to gender-neutral farm tools to increase productivity, thus increasing their overall income and resulting in financial independence.

Priti Verma, Sehore, Madhya Pradesh

Priti who has been working on the farm for the last three years lives in a joint family. The 35-year-old woman is from Jamoniya Village of Sehore block- Madhya Pradesh. She has been involved in farming since she got married. A mother of two children, she also takes care of her father-in-law, brother-in-law along with her husband. She lives in a society where it is a tradition that young women do not speak even a single word in the presence of an elder of the family and the village. Also, the women have to cover their face up to their nose with the pallu of their sari to show respect to everyone around.

Preeti confesses that never in her dreams did she think that one day she will be able to drive a tractor.

Suggested Reading: Can We Stop Telling Widows That They Are Being “Punished”?

Verma shares that she is able to manage both her house and the fieldwork as her in-laws are very supportive. She happily shares that she searches for new information regarding farming on YouTube and Google. When they got access to knowledge and the latest tools, they were able to produce around 60-70 quintal wheat, a three-fold increase from previous years. Preeti further shares that being financially independent gives her a great sense of joy. She confirms that while she consults everyone in the family, decisions regarding her kids are always taken by her.

Priti Verma And Dipali Satish Sonawane

Dipali Satish Sonawane, Sinnar, Maharashtra

Dipali is a woman farmer from Manegaon village and has been working in the field for the last 10 years. Her journey as a farmer started soon after she got married. Twenty-six-year-old Dipali is a mother of two and is educated up to the eleventh standard. She is a long-time member and President of Gurudev Dutt Self Help Group. However, it was just two years ago that she learnt how to drive a tractor as part of the programme and now she even owns one herself. She has learnt the importance of saving and investing through the sisterhood and support system that the programme has facilitated. She believes all this has instilled a great sense of self-confidence in her.

Some women told us that the money they earn goes to the family kitty and they can get a share when they need to spend. Others said that they had full autonomy in terms of spending. What has been an interesting observation is that all the women we spoke to shared that they had their family's full support when they decided to join the programme and attend a workshop. This shift is reassuring definitely.

Radha Karad, Sinnar, Maharashtra

Radha (Surekha) Shivaji Karad is a 28-year-old middle-class farmer woman living in Patole, Sinnar district. She holds a master's degree in Political Science. She shares, “I have 3 children, the eldest son is studying in 4th class and two children are twins. We have five acres of land.”

Radha shares she has her family's full support and they encourage her to learn more about modern farming techniques. She says she makes it point to share with her sister farmers every new thing she learns and as a Secretary of her Self Help Group she encourages women to save. Radha is learning how to drive a tractor perfectly and soon she would be using them on her farms.

Radha Karad and Sushma Devi

Sushma Devi, Amethi, Uttar Pradesh

Sushma Devi, who is from Peeparpur, Bhadar, Amethi, shares that she got involved in farming actively after age caught up with her in-laws and they couldn’t toil as hard on the fields as they used to. After becoming a part of the farmer exposure programmes she feels that she has the confidence and is now equipped to make all her farming-related decisions by herself. Sushma has two daughters and she has decided that she will make sure that they can complete their education.

Check out our Community page here.