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Creating a repository of gender disaggregated data and documentation
Gender disaggregated information in the field of agriculture and
allied areas are scanty and scattered. Such information need to be
collected, collated, synthesized and published in order to make them
easily available to the users. The research information from various
units of the Indian agricultural research system and also from
neighbouring countries shall be collected, classified, synthesized
and published. This will be achieved by launching a short-term
ad-hoc research project under A.P.Cess Fund of the ICAR with a
multi-disciplinary team of scientists. All these information will be
utilized to develop comprehensive database and inventory for case
analysis for its further use in advisory and consultancy services.
Technology testing and refinement
Research efforts rarely take into account the gender perspectives.
Perspectives differ between men and women farmers in adoption of
technologies. For example, in selecting a rice variety, men and
women will differ in plant type, cooking quality and taste. There
are numerous technologies in agriculture system. But their
performance and suitability for women are not established. The NRCWA
shall take up programmes to identify the relevant technologies, test
in women perspective and refine to make them women friendly.
Technologies especially in the fields of horticulture,
agro-processing and value addition, Animal husbandry and fishery
will be tested through on-farm trials.
System development and management
In
the wake of emerging problems related to sustainability the focus
has shifted to studies on performance of systems as a whole and
their components. Situation warrants that studies related to women’s
livelihood and development should be taken up in system approach as
women meet their diverse needs from different sources that are
inter-related in a varying way and related to larger system. It is
also felt that studies on systems such as farming systems would help
find solutions to some of the immediate problems faced by women. Due
attention will be given to socio-cultural parameters while
developing systems in agriculture and allied sectors.
Drudgery assessment and reduction
Drudgery of farm women is an important aspect that has attracted
wide attention of researchers. It is needless to emphasize that
farm women are involved in numerous activities. If measured by the
extensiveness and intensiveness of their involvement, farm women
shoulder much more burden than men. Importantly, women are involved
in more strenuous activities as compared to men. Many of such
activities are drudgery prone to varying degree. Even women suffer
from different health problems which adversely affect their working
efficiency ad family welfare. Unfortunately, data on the extent to
which women are affected in the working environment and the effect
on their work output are not available. Hence, it is required that
studies should be commissioned on drudgery assessment, and drudgery
reducing interventions should be identified; and there NRCWA is to
play vital role. Further, NRCWA will work on evolving suitable
mechanisms to intervene the household drudgery faced by rural women.
Innovating extension approach
Considering the fact that in India farm women are largely illiterate
with very little or almost no exposure to scientific knowledge and
technological know-how due to reasons largely of socio-cultural
nature and these women differ with their male counter part on
several accounts, a separate extension strategy need to be developed
for implementing development programmes intended to benefit farm
women.
The
NRCWA shall formulate different extension modules in the various
subject matter areas like integrated farming system, post-harvest
technology, integrated pest and nutrient management, poultry and
fish farming, tribal development, rural development, employment
guarantee programme etc., and test those modules in the neighbouring
areas of the centre in order to make them appropriate. The
methodologies followed and results obtained will be shared with
implementing agencies and institutions operating at different
levels.
Action researches will be conducted
(a) to identify, mobilize and develop women-specific technologies
for promoting effectiveness and sustainability through on-farm
trials and on-campus demonstrations; (b) to identify gender issues
and test appropriateness of available farm-technologies/
programmes/policies with women perspective for empowerment of
farmwomen and capacity building of scientists, planners and policy
makers to respond to the needs of the farm women; and (c) to
identify areas and mechanisms on establishment of institutional
linkages between various departments, agencies and institutions at
the grass root level for facilitating effective resource management
in rural and tribal development; (d) to work out modus operandi
for registration of women workers at the panchayat level; and (e) to
find out and standardize ways, means and methods for effective use
of participatory mode in planning, implementing, monitoring and
evaluating development actions by partnership of women in
agriculture with implementing agencies.
Capacity building of scientists and functionaries
Scientists, both in research and extension systems, need orientation
to appreciate the vital role of women in agriculture and the areas
in which their efficiency of work could be enhanced either by
technological intervention in agriculture and allied sectors on
important problems or by improving their knowledge and skills for
better job performance. In the first instance the scientists of
NRCWA need to be given required training in certain identified areas
so that the centre can address researchable issues on priority.
Based on the research outcomes, suitable training capsules can be
developed according to the need of various stakeholders like policy
makers, directors, scientists, KVK, development functionaries and
women activists.
Efficient resource management
Resources, both natural and household, provide an important base for
livelihood of women and their families. The means of livelihood that
women adopt depends on resource endowment of a particular region,
their households and access to such resources. The resources can be
common property resources such as forest, water bodies, fallow lands
etc. and household resources like cultivable lands, ponds, livestock
and different assets. In recent years depletion of natural resources
has adversely affected the livelihood security of women and
increased their burden of family maintenance in the event of male
migration to other places. Similarly, lack of adequate resources at
household level and poor management of existing resources have made
poor in general and women in particular vulnerable to hunger and
other kinds of deprivations. Hence, there is need to focus on
studies related to women’s role in resource conservation and
management for sustained flow of benefits.
Gender mainstreaming
Gender mainstreaming in research and extension is considered an
important step contributing towards gender equity. Hence it is
important to make gender an essential component of all the research
undertaken in NARS.
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