Problems and the requirements of the women organic farmers of agro-climatic zones of northern Karnataka

Abstract

Women are the major stakeholders in organic farming. Women often shoulder the increased labour to a greater degree than men. Hence, the present study is an attempt to identify the problems and requirements of the women organic farmers, the present study was conducted in the selected agro-climatic zones of northern Karnataka. The results revealed that irrespective the agro-climatic zones, women organic farmers were facing many personal, marketing and production related problems like lack of encouragement, non availability of certified seeds, less rains, time consuming certification procedure, lack of proper storage facilities and lack of consumer awareness regarding organic markets. The selected women organic farmers demanded the training on rain water harvesting, integrated farming system and role of bio fertilizers and bio pesticides in organic farming, marketing strategies and linkages, labeling and packaging, value addition to organic produces and scientific and organic methods of preservation of organic produces were on list for future action. These programmes were suggested to help the organic farm women to overcome the problems related to production and marketing, to update their knowledge with recent technologies and research.