Women play a crucial role in agriculture. But they seldom get the recognition they are due. Here is an exception. About 1,500 women from 12 States were invited to the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to celebrate Women Farmers’ Day on Friday.

ICRISAT Director-General William Dar said recognising the contribution of women to agriculture is critical to achieving global food security. This Women Farmers’ Day is designated as the ‘Year of Family Farming’ as well as ICRISAT’s Year of Gender. The institute felicitated some farmers to mark the occasion.

Of the 200 crore small-holder farmers in the developing world, seventy per cent are women, mostly living in extreme poverty. “If we are to eradicate hunger and poverty, we need to level the playing field by economically empowering women farmers,” Dar said, addressing the women farmers at the institute.

Quoting a United Nation’s study, he said empowering women farmers with new technologies and resources could result in yield increases of 20-30 per cent and reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 100 to 150 million people.

comment COMMENT NOW