According to the National Labour Force Survey (2023–24), women constitute more than 42 percent of India’s agricultural workforce, and in rural areas, nearly two-thirds of women are directly engaged in farming. These figures reflect not only their economic role but also the emotional and social responsibilities they shoulder within rural India.
Despite this massive contribution, women continue to remain invisible in the agricultural economy. The “feminization of agriculture” has grown over the years, yet more than half of women farmers remain unpaid for their labor. Only 13 percent of women own cultivable land, and among female agricultural laborers, ownership drops to just 2 percent. This starkly highlights how women’s participation has not translated into control over resources or decision-making power.
With increasing male migration to cities for work, women are now managing both farms and families, ensuring food security, protecting the environment, and maintaining community life. Yet, official records still do not recognize them as “farmers,” a designation reserved largely for men. This institutional bias, both social and policy-driven, continues to deny women their rightful recognition.
In Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, around 80 percent of women are engaged in agriculture, but more than half work as unpaid laborers. Their number has surged from 23.6 million to 59.1 million in just eight years, showing that while participation has risen, economic empowerment has not followed. Even in agriculturally advanced states like Punjab, only 1 percent of cultivable land is registered in women’s names, as per data from the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. The lack of ownership remains a key factor behind their economic vulnerability.
Globally, similar disparities persist. The World Health Organization estimates that around 900 million women work in agriculture worldwide, making up about 43 percent of the workforce in developing countries. However, land ownership and wages remain skewed. The International Labour Organization’s 2022 report found that women across 64 countries perform an average of 1,664 hours of unpaid labor annually — equivalent to about 9 percent of global GDP. In India, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) estimated in 2023 that unpaid female labor would contribute about 7.5 percent to national GDP if it were properly valued.
Beyond agriculture, women sustain rural life — preserving traditions, maintaining ecological balance, and ensuring nutrition. Their resilience is legendary: in hilly and remote areas, they often carry the sick or pregnant on their shoulders across rough terrain when no transport is available.
Yet, beneath this courage lies a deep crisis. The National Crime Records Bureau’s Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2023 report recorded 10,786 suicides in the agriculture sector — 4,690 among farmers and 6,096 among agricultural laborers. Every day, nearly 30 people working in agriculture take their own lives. Among farmers, 4,553 were men and 137 women; among laborers, 5,433 were men and 663 women. Maharashtra reported the highest number of suicides, followed by Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Chhattisgarh. In contrast, states such as West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, and those in the northeast reported zero cases.
Amid this distress, the NABARD Rural Attitude Survey 2025 offers some positive signs. It found that 54.5 percent of rural households now access loans from formal financial sources such as regional rural banks, cooperatives, and microfinance institutions — the highest ever recorded. This shift has reduced dependency on exploitative credit systems. However, 22 percent of households still rely solely on informal lenders charging up to 18 percent interest, while another 23.5 percent use both formal and informal sources, deepening their debt burden.
Government schemes such as the Kisan Credit Card, Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, Self-Help Groups, and the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi — which has disbursed ₹3.9 lakh crore to over 9.7 crore small and marginal farmers — have helped improve financial inclusion. Still, rural credit remains uneven. Many small farmers lack documentation, guarantors, or stable incomes, forcing them back into informal debt traps.
According to the RBI’s 2024–25 report, rural bank branches increased from 33,378 to 56,579 in a decade, with cooperatives expanding their reach and promoting digital transactions. Yet access remains a challenge. Experts suggest expanding microcredit programs, strengthening rural banking correspondents, introducing fintech-based credit scoring, and enhancing refinancing support to non-banking financial companies. Extending the PM Swamitva Scheme to ensure legal land titles for small farmers could significantly improve women’s access to institutional credit.
The intersection of agriculture, credit, and women’s economic rights defines the future of rural India. Women’s invisible labor sustains farming, families, and food systems. Only when their empowerment, access to credit, and social security advance together can India’s agricultural growth become truly inclusive, equitable, and sustainable.
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