CHAPTER-I

INTRODUCTION

Agriculture involves crop husbandry, animal husbandry, forestry and fisheries. Your
income will go up only if you look at the system, and not from one crop alone .(M.S Swaminathan)
Agriculture, with its allied sectors, is unquestionably the largest livelihood provider in India, more so in
the vast rural areas. It also contributes a significant figure to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Sustainable agriculture in terms of food security, rural employment, and environmentally sustainable
technologies such as soil conservation, sustainable natural resource management and biodiversity
protection, are essential for holistic rural development. Indian agriculture and allied activities have
witnessed a green revolution, a white revolution, a yellow revolution and a blue revolution.
(Govt. of India 2015)

India's diverse climate ensures availability of all varieties of fresh fruits & vegetables. It ranks second in
fruits and vegetables production in the world, after China. As per National Horticulture Database (Second
Advance Estimates) published by National Horticulture Board, during 2019-20, India produced 99.07
million metric tonnes of fruits and 191.77 million metric tonnes of vegetables. The area under cultivation
of fruits stood at 6.66 million hectares while vegetables were cultivated at 10.35 million hectares. India is
the largest producer of ginger and okra amongst vegetables and ranks second in production of potatoes,
onions, cauliflowers, brinjal, Cabbages, etc (FAO 2019 ). Vegetables are excellent source of vitamins,
particularly niacin, riboflavin, Thiamin and vitamins A and C. They also supply minerals such as calcium
and iron besides proteins and carbohydrates. Vegetables combat under nourishment and are known to be
cheapest source of natural protective tools. Most of the vegetables, being short duration crops, fit very
well in the intensive cropping system and are capable of giving very high yields and very high economic
returns to the growers. Major vegetables grown in India are Potato, Onion, Tomato, Cauliflower,
Cabbage, Bean, Egg Plants, Cucumber and Garkin, Frozen Peas, Garlic and okra. The major areas
producing Fresh Vegetables are West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Gujarat, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.(
www.apeda.gov.in 2015)

Rural Indian women are extensively involved in agricultural activities. However the nature and extent of
their involvement differs with the variations in agro production systems. The mode of female
participation in agricultural production varies with the landowning status of farm households. Their roles
range from managers to landless labourers. In over all farm production, women’s average contribution is
estimated at 55% to 66% of the total labour with percentages, much higher in certain regions. In the
Indian Himalayas a pair of bullocks works 1064 hours, a man 1212 hours and a woman 3485 hours in a
year on a once hectare farm. (G Jayasheela 2015)

Horticulture deals with the production and maintenance of fruits, vegetables,

and flowers, spices mushroom, medicinal and aromatic plants. The cultivation of horticulture crops is
highly specialized, technical and remunerative venture as compared to traditional crops being grown by
the farmers. Apart from this, majority of Horticulture crops, being perishable in nature, requires
systematic planning for their development. Horticulture development has assumed greater importance in
recent years, since this sector has been identified as remunerative for diversification of land use which
provides increased employment opportunities, better return per unit area besides filling the nutritional
gaps. Farmers in Haryana have also started taking up horticulture crops as a separate viable economic
activity.( www.hortharyana.gov.in 2015)

Horticultural crops are different from field crops in respect of their

cultivation practices. Majority of fruits, vegetables, ornamental and plantation crops are not directly
seeded. Women play an active role in various production and postproduction activities of horticultural
crops. The number of women engaged in agriculture has increased continuously in the past two -
three decades due to various factors such as migration of men to urban areas, increase in the
demand of labour force in construction and other sectors. Women involved in horticulture sector are
scanty however the involvement of women in various operations of cultivation and post harvest
handling and storage is very high. Women participation in the family farming system is crucial to the
sustenance of rural economy. The farm women need to be involved in olericulture sector to push up
considerable increase in production level and area under vegetables. As vegetables are vital source of
minerals, vitamins and dietary fibers and thus play an important role in human nutrition in supplying
adequate quantity of free radicals, antioxidants and micronutrients.Vegetable cultivation in India is
mainly dominated by small and even landless farmers who borrow small piece of land on lease basis.
Vegetable cultivation in India is such an agricultural occupation where the whole works to get maximum
earning form small piece of land and the role of each and every member are important social status of
people has an important role. Women of such families play a crucial role in the various production
activities of vegetables. (Tripathi et al 2012). Vegetables make up a major portion of the diet of humans
and are critical for good health. With the world population predicted to reach 9 billion people by 2050,
they will play an increasingly important role in food availability. (Stanley J 2011).
Traditionally, women have always played an important role in agriculture- as farmers, co-farmers,
wage labours and managers of farms. They have conventionally been producers of food from seed to
kitchen. Women carry heavier work burden in food production, however due to gender discrimination, get
lower returns for their work. The multiple role of women leads to a significant contribution in real terms
to the productive system. But it is unfortunate that her role is not adequately recognized and properly her
contribution not qualified in the male- dominated society. They have been underrepresented in the
development process. Despite their dominance of the labour force, women in India still face extreme
disadvantage in terms of pay, land rights and representation in local farmers’ organizations. Apart from
this, women face many challenges due to limited access to productive resources in agricultural production
which prevent them in enhancing their productivity (Singh et al 2019).
The scenario of agriculture has completely changed with change in time
but from centuries one thing that didn’t change is the visualization of women as key labour in this sector.
Agriculture sector as a whole has developed and emerged immensely with the infusion of science and
technology. In developing countries like India, agriculture continues to absorb and employ 2/3rd of the
female work force but fails to give them recognition of employed labour. The female labour force in
developing nations still faces the oppressive status of being majorly responsible for family and household
maintenance. In addition to that their contribution of being an agriculture labour is suppressed under the
status of family labour who works in farm in addition to her regular household chores. These problems of
the rural women are further accentuated by the tribulations of illiteracy, underdevelopment,
unemployment and poverty. Despite of the major productive women labor force in agriculture their needs
and problems are somewhat ignored by the rural development initiatives. The multitasking potentiality of
female labour bought significant propositions for agricultural productivity, rural production, economic
vitality, household food security, family health, family economic security and welfare (Ghosh and
Ghosh 2014). Women play multidimensional role in sustainable development of economy through their
contribution in household and agricultural activities (Singh et al. 2012).
Male have more decision making power in direct money and technology related activities and
involved in more laborious activities and female are more involved in tedious intercultural activities
related to Commercial Vegetable Farming (CVF). Household resources like land, capital and
saving/credit were controlled by male members. Again, male respondents have higher access to
agricultural information materials and training activities. Commercial vegetable farming was not new
enterprise to them. Farmers have started growing vegetable commercially as soon as the highway and
feeder roots were made. Vegetable production have major share in household income in comparison to
other components like livestock, cereal crops, and fruits. Commercial vegetable farming created a good
income for youths. Majority of youths are engaged in this practice. Almost all the respondents were
satisfied with CVF because of good income. Respondents have overall very good attitude towards CVF.
(Sigdel and silwal 2018)
 The national lockdown announced by the government from 25March to 31 May 2020
throughout India, with extension in severely affected areas, to stop the spread of coronavirus, it has
seriously affected vegetable production and marketing. In India, agriculture is an important component
driver of economic growth. India’s diverse environment ensures all types of vegetables are available year
round. Vegetable horticulture is a lucrative activity because of potential profits, opportunities to farmers
for better income, and support for the food processing industry. The lockdown posed challenges to
vegetable horticulture which will have implications for the future. The major stakeholders of agriculture
are small and marginal farmers who have been hit hardest.
The crises triggered migration of workers from their resident states to their domicile states, the biggest
migration of workers since India achieved independence. There will be a serious labor shortage in the rich
states Punjab and Haryana; labor will be abundant in the poor states Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which will
create labor imbalance in agriculture. The future of agriculture in India will depend on strategies to evolve
out of this crisis. Policymakers should consider innovative measures such as intervening in vegetable
marketing, collaboration with private partners to develop robust infrastructure of post-harvest food
storage, and bringing food processing units to rural are as to increase the accessibility of farmers so they
can sell their produce at reasonable prices. (Siddiquei and khan 2020)
Therefore, the present study has been planned with the following objectives:
1. To investigate the nature and extent of participation of women in vegetable cultivation.

2. To assess the work related problems faced by women in vegetable cultivation.

3. To isolate factors associated with participation and problems in vegetable cultivation.

Scope of the study

Present study is an attempt to specify the participation of women in vegetable cultivation.the

analysis of data is done by using inferential statistics like frequency, Percentage, Average and Mean. The

study explores the insightstatus of women in terms of labouers and farmers.The study has analyzed the

cultivation of vegetable in terms of participation of women , constraints faced by women, extent and

nature of participation which is the attempt to look upto the role of women .The study may help

researchers , extension personnals and policy makers in planning training of programmes which may help

the women in vegetable cultivation.

Limitations of the study

The study was limited to only one district of Haryana state and was conducted on limited

geographical area and thus , is likely to have all limitation inherent in student research project.

The tools used in the study has its own limitation. Further the present study relied on the data

collected through interview schedule,therefore the findings of the study based on human behavior

influenced by physical ,social and physiological factors ,hence the objectivity of the study is

limited to the respondents ability of understanding, recalling and verbal expression in furnishing

the required information. .It suffers problem of time as faced by single researcher and

respondents are selected through snowball technique..The generalization of the findings are

applicable within the selected locale and set of variables included in the study. The study is

limited to some crops not all the vegetables are covered under the research .It deals with the

problems faced by women in general prospect not the scientific terminologies.The study covers

the participation extent through limited set of variables.