When you read or hear the word 'farmer', what do you visualise? Many people imagine a man. However, in rural areas of India, more than 75 per cent of people working in the agriculture sector are women (2025). They perform most of the farming operations, from sowing to harvesting and threshing.
This reflection highlights gender bias in perceptions of farmers.
While the common image of a farmer is male, the reality in India is that women perform over 75% of agricultural work in rural areas.
Women are involved in all farming operations: sowing seeds, transplanting seedlings, weeding, harvesting, threshing, and post-harvest processing.
Despite this crucial contribution, women farmers often lack recognition, land ownership rights, and access to credit and government schemes.
This reflection encourages students to recognize women's essential role in Indian agriculture and question stereotypes about gender roles in farming.
Explanation
The 'Think about it' box on Page 2 presents this reflection to challenge gender stereotypes about farmers. The statistic that 'more than 75 per cent of people working in the agriculture sector are women' (2025) highlights women's significant but often invisible contribution to Indian agriculture.
Solution Steps
The reflection highlights gender bias in common perceptions of farmers
Women perform over 75% of agricultural work in rural India
Women are involved in all farming operations from sowing to post-harvest processing
Women farmers often lack recognition, land ownership rights, and access to credit and government schemes
Students should recognize women's essential role in Indian agriculture and question gender stereotypes