The Working Group in Agricultural Research and Education constituted by the Planning commission for the formulation of the eight five Year Plan (1992-97) recommended to establish a National Research Centre for Women in Agriculture (NRCWA) during the Eighth Five Year Plan.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research established the NRCWA in the month of April 1996 at Bhubaneswar and a sub-centre at Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal (M.P.) during VIII Five Year Plan. Its actual functioning started in 1998 with joining of regular staff.

1. To create a database on gender specific information about men’s and women’s role in food production and agriculture development for effecting technologies, programmes and policies.

2. To test the appropriateness of farm technologies and programmes and policies in terms of gender sensitivity in collaboration with relevant national and international organizations and suggest suitable modifications.

3. To develop drudgery reducing options for decreasing the workload and increasing the efficiency of women.

4. To develop gender sensitive modules and methodologies for transfer of technology.

5. To develop gender sensitive training modules and materials and impart training for capacity building of scientists, researchers, planners and policy makers for gender mainstreaming and practical application of gender related technologies.

6. To develop and publish gender sensitive materials, create network linkage through journals and information sharing.

1. Documenting gender issues, roles and relations in diverse contexts and situations in the country including varying agro-climatic zones, farming systems and socio-cultural setting through collaborative research.

2. Initiation of collaborative process for setting up research directions and themes. Major themes of research, extension and training will include extensive studies on situation of women agricultural labourers, gender wage differentials and its causes, occupational health hazards, structural causes of women’s inequality, resource constraints, land rights, production and post-harvest technologies, agri-business and agri-processing, contribution of women in animal husbandry, pisci-culture, horticulture, fishery. Studies on the role, experience and knowledge of women in management of genetic resources, bio-diversity and natural resources.

3. Initiating and coordinating multi centric research among ICAR institutes for testing of different technologies, which can bring about major impact on policy and production.

4. Setting up information base on rural women’s economic and social status (analysis and trends), productive and reproductive labour, time use, responsibility sharing and access to and control of resources.

5. Developing methods for the quantitative measurement of unremunerated work that is outside the system of National Accounts, such as caring for dependants and preparing food, for possible inclusion in satellite or other official accounts that may be produced separately from the National Accounts. Develop an international classification of unremunerated work activities for measurement in time use studies (Developing database on gender roles in agriculture).

6. Producing analysis, cross-referencing qualitative data (from case studies, surveys and research) with quantitative data (produced by statistical systems), to gain a better understanding of strategies affecting rural women, and their potential for change.

7. Development of awareness generation and training tools for gender mainstreaming including gender sensitive indicators to assess progress in each of these areas.

8. Developing trainers’ training modules and materials for technology transfer.

9. To study the potential of SHGs as tool for sustainable livelihood of farmwomen.

10. Generation, compilation and dissemination of dietary and nutritional status data disaggregated by sex for all age groups. Analysis of specific nutrition issues related to gender.

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