The Invisible Workforce: Women Behind India’s Farms

Travelling through the villages across India over the past few months has given me an opportunity that few professions offer - the chance to walk through farmers’ fields, sit with their families, and understand their lives closely. These interactions revealed many realities about Indian agriculture, but one truth stood out clearly: much of the work that sustains our farms is carried on the shoulders of women. During these visits, I often notice something striking while the men discuss crops, labour, and farm planning, the women quietly carry out much of the hands-on work.

For example, I visited a village in Rajasthan one afternoon, sitting with male farmers as they talked about crop yields and labour costs. From the corner of my eye, I saw the women of the household at work—hidden behind the ghoonghat yet doing more than any male member that day. A petite woman was chopping a thick wooden log with precision, another milking the cow, a third feeding fodder into a machine, while yet another balanced a large tasla of manure on her head and carried it to the fields. All this while the men spoke comfortably, seemingly unaware of the labour unfolding around them.

In another home, a woman sat proudly on a small chowki, politely refusing to sit next to her husband. “How can I sit next to him?” she said, asserting her space within tradition. Yet her understanding of farming was remarkable. She could identify weeds damaging her cumin crop, calculate the costs of manual weeding, and explain the impact on yield. She knew her fields intimately, even if her decisions were not always reflected in the family’s agricultural choices.

This is the reality across much of rural India. Women handle nearly every aspect of agriculture—from sowing, weeding, and harvesting to feeding animals, preparing food for labourers, and managing households. Despite this, only a small fraction of women officially own land or are recognised as farmers. Reports show that women make up over 60% of India’s agricultural workforce in some regions, but only around 13% of landowners are women. This lack of recognition, land rights, and access to credit keeps them at a disadvantage, even though they have the deepest understanding of the land they work on.

There are, however, examples of progress. During my recent visit to Gujarat, I met a highly educated woman managing her 80-acre mango orchard. She was involved in every step—pruning, pest control, harvesting—and shared decision-making equally with her husband. The orchard was thriving, full of shiny leaves and abundant fruit. It was a living example of how recognising women’s labour and knowledge can produce outstanding results.

Yet, for most women, barriers remain. Many are excluded from agricultural training programs and extension services. In some regions, social norms even discourage women from working in the fields. This exclusion keeps them on the backfoot, limiting access to technical knowledge, modern farming techniques, and government support. Still, these women remain passionate about their crops. They notice problems before anyone else, manage resources with care, and solve challenges in practical ways every day.

Empowering women farmers is not just a matter of fairness—it is essential for India’s agricultural growth. Providing them training, credit, land rights, and opportunities to participate in decision-making can transform productivity and rural livelihoods. Even simple steps, like organising women-focused training sessions and officially recognising them as farmers, can make a significant difference.

If India truly wants its farms to flourish, it must move beyond seeing women as helpers and start valuing them as leaders, innovators, and decision-makers in agriculture. Their knowledge, dedication, and insight have the power to shape not just individual fields, but the future of Indian farming. Recognising and supporting them today is an investment in the growth, sustainability, and resilience of agriculture for generations to come.