Abstract
Women’s participation in the agricultural labour force (38.87 and 55.67%) in India and the State of Andhra Pradesh, India (Census of India, 2001) plays a distinctive role in earning a livelihood for the family. The objective of the study was to examine the pattern of women work force in agricultural activities in Andhra Pradesh (AP), India and is based on secondary data taken from the census of 2001 and 2011 and primary survey undertaken in six selected districts of Andhra Pradesh. The proportion of women agricultural labour is more than male labour in all the districts. With respect to gender gap, the participation gap has been narrowed but remuneration and advancement gap between male and female workers still exists. The OLS regression was employed to estimate the various factors which affect the female work force participation in Andhra Pradesh. At the district level a high inter district variation has been observed for the work force participation for men and women. With the emerging commercialization of agriculture and introduction of new technologies, capacity building of women workforce is important for achieving sustainable agricultural growth and improving the rural livelihood security. Key words: Women’s participation, agricultural labour, gender gap, livelihood security.
Highlights
Women are 48.5% of the general population of India and agricultural sector is the largest employer of women
In Andhra Pradesh (AP) according to 2001 census, the population of the state was 762.10 lakhs of which women were 376.82 lakh and it has increased to 846.65 lakh in 2011 with 421.55 lakh women (Census 2001 and 2011) and 66.6% population living in rural areas is depending on agriculture and allied activities
In the present study it was observed that the proportion of both cultivators and agricultural labour has fallen for males and females in 2011
Summary
Women are 48.5% of the general population of India and agricultural sector is the largest employer of women. According to official statistics (National Sample Survey 68th round), in the rural areas, 59% men work in agriculture, but the figures are 75% for women. Women‟s participation in agriculture has been growing relative to men who implies increased dependence of women on agriculture and reiterates their crucial role in the sustainable growth and future of this sector. Valipour (2014, 2015) used the important indices of rural population to total population and total economically active population in agriculture to total economically active population to estimate the values of area equipped for irrigation. Agriculture is the main occupation and 66% of population is engaged in agriculture and related activities in Andhra Pradesh, India.
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