Why Women Farmers Deserve the Right to Identity

Oct 14, 2019 | Shipra Deo
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In a workshop with a group of agronomists who work in agriculture extension in India, I ask the participants to draw the picture of a farmer with whom they work. All but one of them draw male figures.

I go to farmer fairs organized by universities, the State Department of Agriculture, and agri-input companies. Most of the farmers visiting there are men. The scientists are men. The company representatives are men. Those organizing meetings and those attending are men.

I attend a policy meeting organized by the state agriculture department.  All sitting on the dais are men. All in the audience are men.

I watch agriculture programs on television, listen to agriculture programs on the radio, read farming magazines, and look at the advertisements for agricultural inputs – fertilizer, pesticides, seeds. Everywhere I see farmers being addressed as Kisaan Bhai (farmer brother).