Edi o ial
Augus 2025
En isioning Feminis and Gende -Neu al Ag oecologies: Gende , Equi y, In e sec ionali y and
Powe in Ag icul u al Inno a ion
Go inda aj Kamalam Dinesh
1Edi o -in-Chie , Enligh en Ag icul u e, A Pee - e iewed Magazine
2Assis an P o esso (En i onmen al Science), College o Ag icul u e, Cen al Ag icul u al Uni e si y,
I oisemba, Imphal, Manipu – 795 004, India
3Zonal Ag icul u al Resea ch S a ion, VC, Fa m, Mandya – 571 405, India
[email p o ec ed]
We mus ealise and acknowledge ha he p esen -day a ming is a one o he c oss oads. A leas
he ea e , ou ac ions should be guided by ecological sus ainabili y, ood secu i y and mo e o social
equi y as hese aspec s plays an in e sec ional ole o he de elopmen o gende -neu al ag icul u e.
Howe e , ag icul u al inno a ion s ill happens o be an ins i u ionally unequi able sphe e, pa icula ly
when he issue o gende ed asymme ies o powe is b ough up. Feminis ag oecology is a niche
heo e ical issue, also a amewo k and pa hway o he sys ema ic change, wi hou which we canno hink
c i ically abou e olu iona y change in ag icul u al sys ems, as i is cen alizing equi y, ca e and jus ice.
Wo ld Heal h O ganiza ion epo s ha women make up 43 % o he ag icul u al labou o ce in de eloping
coun ies whe eas hey own less han 15 pe cen o ag icul u al land globally (FAO, 2011). The Sou h
Asia egion esul s a e e en lowe ; women land owne ship in India is me ely 14 % (Aga wal e al., 2021).
Due o his, he e ha e been a sys emic-ba ie s aced by women a me s when hey app oach o mal
sou ces o c edi , i iga ion acili ies, ex ension se ices and ag i-inpu s. The Na ional Sample Su ey
(NSS 77 h Round) indica ed ha only 5% o emale cul i a o s in India ecei ed basic ex ension se ice,
which is as onishingly lowe , his will lead o inaccessibili y o inno a ion by he women a me s (Sah e
al., 2015). Such inequali ies a e no adminis a i e o e sigh s bu can be shown o be a di ec ques ion
o pa ia chal and cas e-based land enu e sys ems, legal exclusions and con inuing unde aluing o
women labou in household and communi y ag oeconomies.
Women-led and Dali - a me -cen ic app oach
Among he la ges ag oecological ini ia i es in Telangana, India, Deccan De elopmen Socie y (DDS)
ad ances as a pa adigma ic example o women-led and Dali - a me -cen ed ag oecology p ac ice. Along
wi h he mille -based c opping complex, seed so e eign y, and he ex ensi e sha ing o communi y seed
banks, DDS cul i a es and o ganically manage 50,000 ac es o ain ed land (Pa naik e al., 2017). Mo e
impo an in i s s a egy is an epis emic pa adox, ha DDS does no conside any eli e expe -d i en
models a he i ollows only Indigenous knowledge and echniques.
Gende Blindness in G een Re olu ion
G een Re olu ion inc eased ood p oduc ion in India bu his s eng hened male cen ic, inpu in ensi e,
mechanized sys ems. In Punjab and Ha yana, esea ch shows ha women we e pu pose ully
ma ginalized while making plans especially, mechanisa ion eplaced all he women- ela ed labou in
ag icul u e, and a m chemicals inc eased he ep oduc i e-heal h isks in women (Mo wani, 2024). The
c i iques o eminism con inue o a gue ha echnological change wi hou any c i ical applica ion o gende
analysis only b ings o h mo e a enues o ma ginaliza ion a he han egali a ian ag osocie y.
Women SHGs and Clima e Sma Ag icul u e in Odisha
Se e al go e nmen p og ams (NRLM, Mission Shak i) b ing women in o g oup o communi y a ming.
Howe e , assessmen s in Odisha poin ou ha al hough SHGs expanded mo e access o aining and
mic o inance, hey o en eplica ed eli e seizu e bu also locked ou landless women and hinde ed ma ke
au onomic decision-making p ocesses. This e eals ha wi hou ins i u ional change, g oup s uc u es
and communi y led ini ia i es will become a ‘ okenis ic app oach, no a su age e one’ (Nielsen e al.,
2020). Th ough he analysis o p esen s uc u al weaknesses in Indian ag icul u e, he e a e ou
in e ela ed a eas which need o be inclined o igh away.
1. Land owne ship and law ul sa egua ds
In 2005 he Hindu Succession Ac was u he amended, which is isiona y d eam o D . B.R.Ambedka ,
and his was a signi ican p og ess, hough en o cemen is slow. Be o e his amendmen , in many
ju isdic ions, he names o women canno e en be ound in he eco ds as a join p ope y. A he same
ime, he cus oma y laws in he en i e coun y especially he laws go e ning he ibal and Muslim
go e nmen s s ill disc imina e agains he emale hei s. These needs o be changed o empowe he
women.
2. Resea ch and design o ag o-inpu s
The mains eam b eeding p og ams egula ly a ou ai s ha con i m o he male ood p e e ences and
ha de p epa a ion and p ocessing echniques and o en o e look he p e e ences o women. Gende -
sensi i e b eeding can enhance li elihoods like Pa icipa o y Va ie al Selec ion in ol ing women in Nepal;
howe e , hese inno a ions should be di used mo e b oadly (Joshi e al., 1997).
3. P icing o he ee labou
Su eys on ime-use e eals ha u al women spend be ween 291–315 minu es (4.8–5.3 hou s) daily on
unpaid domes ic wo k, and 135–137 minu es (2.25 hou s) on unpaid ca egi ing, o aling abou 7–8 hou s
pe day when combined wi h ano he unpaid ask (Ve ma, 2025). Though hese da a highligh he ex eme
impo ance o women wo k, hey a e no pa o mains eam mac oeconomic measu es ha neglec
in o mal wo k con ibu ions like animal keeping, seed collec ion, and weeding. Hence, he e should be a
p ice o unpaid women o hei a m-cho e wo ks.
4. Up ake and echnological design
The Sel -Employed Women’s Associa ion (SEWA) has implemen ed and p omo ed he use o
e gonomically designed a m ools speci ically sui ed o women. Case s udies con i m hese ools, such
as ligh weigh weede s, imp o ed sickles, hand-d i en plan e s, seed ea men d ums, wheel hoes, and
g ain cleane s ha e signi ican ly educed he physical bu den and ime equi ed o key ag icul u al
ope a ions, while imp o ing p oduc i i y and e gonomic sa e y.
5. In e sec ionali y and clima e esilience
The women a me s end o be mo e ulne able o changes in clima e bu hey a e no much ep esen ed
du ing adap a ion planning. The sus ainable ag oecological sys ems such as ZBNF, and SRI should
include gende ed ulne abili y analyses o p omo e equal isk educ ion.
Policy Shi s and he Way Fo wa d
When conside ed collec i ely, hese s a is ics indica e some se ious laws in he s uc u e o Indian
ag icul u e, poin ing o he necessi y o sys em-wide, c oss sec o al and in e sec ional measu es. O e
he pas ew mon hs, he e ha e eme ged wo impo an de elopmen s in he a ena o schola ly and
policy discussion in he ield o ag icul u e. Gende main s eame is a long- e m s a egy which has been
ecommended by he Na ional Gende Resou ce Cen e in Ag icul u e (NGRCA) and Re ised Na ional
Policy o Women in Ag icul u e (2021) has also ei e a ed i s commi men in his ega d. Howe e ,
despi e such commi men s, gende - esponsi e schemes a e s ill allo ed below 6.8% o o al budge
expendi u e in he ag icul u al budge . We hus need o g apple wi h hese p oblems: (1) he lack o
gende disagg ega ed da a sys ems, (2) he sho alls in eminis ex ension model which ha e c edible
ecogni ion o plu al knowledges, (3) he need o ca y ou land i ling e o ms capable o achie ing a
syne gis ic combina ion o land enu e secu i y oge he wi h equal access o c edi o women cul i a o s,
and (4) he need o in e sec ional a ge ing which simul aneously add esses cas e and landlessness as
well as ibal s a us in addi ion o gende .
The e is s ill he pe cep ion by he male pa ia chal socie y, so called ‘socie y’, ha eminis ag oecology
is an adjunc o scien i ic ag icul u e bu i is a ‘co ec i e lens’. Though, i is s ill conside ed widely no as
he g ound-b eaking cen al pa o he ag icul u e inno a ion bu as he add-on like a pickles and
paapads. Howe e , he analy ic amewo k o eminis ag oecology is needed o eclaim he ad ocacy o
women, wha i means o challenge he logics o i a ional cus oms, and build ag onomic sys ems ha
ely on ca ing, ecip oci y, and ecological jus ice. To achie e ans o ma i e inno a ion, he his o ical and
s uc u al exclusions ha ha e ma ginalized many gende s including women should ook pa a he
epicen e o he p ocess, and ecognise hem as equal and esponsible co-c ea o s o knowledge as
agen s o sys ema ic e olu iona y change a he han so called ‘bene icia ies’.
Re e ences
• Aga wal, B., An hwal, P., & Mahesh, M. (2021). How many and which women own land in India?
In e -gende and in a-gende gaps. The Jou nal o De elopmen S udies, 57(11), 1807-1829.
• Food and Ag icul u e O ganiza ion o he Uni ed Na ions. (2011). The s a e o ood and
ag icul u e 2010–2011: Women in ag icul u e – Closing he gende gap o de elopmen . FAO.
h ps://www. ao.o g/3/i2050e/i2050e.pd
• Joshi, K. D., Subedi, M., Rana, R. B., Kadaya , K. B., & S hapi , B. R. (1997). Enhancing on- a m
a ie al di e si y h ough pa icipa o y a ie al selec ion: a case s udy o Chai e ice in
Nepal. Expe imen al Ag icul u e, 33(3), 335-344.
• Mo wani, A. (2024). Women Peasan s in India: Fa me s o ‘Fa me s’ Wi es’?. Jou nal o Gende ,
Cul u e and Socie y, 4(1), 08-19.
• Nielsen, M. O., & T ipa hy, L. (2020). Women's Collec i es as Vehicles o Empowe men and
Social Change: Case s udy o Women's Sel Help G oups in Odisha, India. S An ony's
In e na ional Re iew, 16(1), 32-48.
• Pa naik, A., Rui enkamp, G., & Jonge den, I. J. (2017). Ma ginalized communi y, space o
commons and au onomy: he case o he Deccan De elopmen Socie y in Sou h India. Jou nal
o Ru al S udies, 53, 173-181.
• Sah, U., Dubey, S. K., Singh, S. K., Kuma , R., Singh, D., & K ishna, R. (2015). Mains eaming
women a me s o ag icul u al ex ension se ices in India: pe cep ion o ex ension
pe sonnel. Indian Jou nal o Ex ension Educa ion, 51(3and4), 1-7.
• Subashini. (2025, Augus 21). Tools and equipmen s o educe women d udge y. Vikaspedia.
h ps://ag icul u e. ikaspedia.in/ iewcon en /ag icul u e/women-and-ag icul u e/ ools-and-
equipmen s- o- educe-women-d udge y?lgn=en
• Union Budge 2023-24 Gende Budge S a emen , Minis y o
Finance:h ps://www.indiabudge .go .in
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h ps://www.bluek a .in/ ime-use-su ey-a- ime- o -change/