Patna: With over 70% of women in India engaged in agriculture, their role in policymaking and technological advancement remains negligible, Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University (RPCAU) vice-chancellor P S Pandey said on Monday, stressing that treating women as agents of change is essential to achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat.Addressing the valedictory session of the three-day national conference on “Redefining women’s role in agri-food systems: Extension strategies for sustainable agricultural development”, organised jointly by RPCAU and the International Society of Extension Education (INSEE) at Pusa in Samastipur, Pandey said technology must reach both the farm and the kitchen. Only then will agricultural innovation be fruitful. “In the coming years, the face of agriculture will change rapidly, and we will have to promote digital agriculture, artificial intelligence and other internet-based tools,” he said.INSEE president and former vice-chancellor of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, K Narayan Gowda said, “Women farmers are the real strength of Indian agriculture. Recent research and case studies show that productivity and household nutrition improve sharply when women get the right tools, training and platforms.”Case studies from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar and Maharashtra showed that technology adoption rises by 40% to 70% when women lead farmer producer organisations, he said.Experts at the conference agreed that the challenges of climate change, nutrition security and rural entrepreneurship cannot be addressed without placing women farmers at the centre of agricultural activities.All technical sessions highlighted women’s contribution to seed management, livestock, post-harvest work and food processing, but flagged their poor access to credit, land ownership, mechanisation and advisory services.
