Rural

COMMONWEALTH ASSOCATION FOR EDUCATION,
ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT
ISSN NO 2322-0147
2322
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 4 APRIL 2014
RURAL WOMEN SEARCHING SUSTAINABILITY IN AGRICULTURE-

AGRICULTURE A STUDY
OF SUMERA AND NAGOLA VILLAGES OF ALIGARH DISTRICT IN UTTAR
PRADESH, INDIA
INDEXED WITH PARIS, DAIS.NET,, DRJI, WORLDCAT, EBSCO-USA,
EBSCO J-GATE
(EDITOR-IN--CHIEF)
DR MUJIBUL HASAN SIDDIQUI
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION,
ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY,
ALIGARH-202002,
UTTAR PRADESH,
INDIA
www.ocwjournalonline.com
website: www.ocwjournalonline.com
Excellence International Journal of Education and

Research (Multi-
(Multi subject journal)
Excellence International Journal Of Education And Research VOLUME 2 ISSUE 4 ISSN 2322-0147
RURAL WOMEN SEARCHING SUSTAINABILITY IN AGRICULTURE- A STUDY OF
SUMERA AND NAGOLA VILLAGES OF ALIGARH DISTRICT IN UTTAR PRADESH,
INDIA
By
Arti Sharma
Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Geography,
Delhi School of Economics,
University of Delhi
Delhi, India
Email id: sharmaartiji@yahoo.co.in
ABSTRACT
A majority of women workers in the country are employed in the rural areas,
primarily as labourers or cultivators. The employment as labourer or cultivator becomes
much more difficult for women in a patriarchal society. Local politics and people’s attitudes
make women less credit worthy than men. Their work is undermined when compared that to
the work of men. In this type of societal environment sustainability for women has immense
challenge. This article deals with the politics of sustainability of women. Due to shortage of
male labour, women of study area were gradually allowed to earn money but only in limited
operations like harvesting, weeding, thrashing and winnowing. They work largely to save
money for their family i.e. as an unpaid labour. There are many other politics of
sustainability options for women which are discussed subsequently in this article.
Keywords- Seasonal employment, double burden, poverty, patriarchy, harvesting, weeding,
threshing, winnowing
I. INTRODUCTION
The sphere of rural women in farm and home management has wide
potentiality for scientific enquiry. Women have played an important role since human
civilisation became agriculturalist around 10,000 years ago. In nomadic society, all were
hunters and gatherers and in contemplation women produced the major part of the food
Excellence International Journal Of Education And Research (Multi-subject journal) Page 593
consumed by nomadic group. They were always engaged in the securing food for her
family or tribal group. Women may have been the first agriculturists who gathered roots,
fruits, grain etc. Since historical time, women have formed an organic component of the
working force and played a considerably significant role in every type of agricultural
system. As with the economic and technological advancement, the management of
farm and home has developed a new politics of work in every society. As agricultural
techniques developed with the passage of time, it is possible to recognize the segregation of
agricultural work among men and women.
In modern time, there has been a squabble over the regional differences in the
women’s contribution in the agricultural work.
II. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY
The objectives of the study were to provide useful analytical information
about the factors which affect the employability of rural women. So, this study has
following research objectives.
To evaluate the occupational structure of rural women in both the villages
How many households owned farmland and what is the size of their land
holdings?
To investigate the reasons behind women working in agriculture and the kind
of work rural women were getting in a farm.
To achieve these objectives of research, personal interview method with a
structured questionnaire had been used for primary data collection. Data from
primary source had been collected through a general field survey of both Sumera and
Nagola villages. In the general survey, I talked to elder people of both the villages to
get familiar with some aspects about rural culture. Some households were also
surveyed in the pilot visit. Then, with the help of a structured questionnaire I
interviewed total 175 women in both the villages. Out of 175 women, 95 women
were selected from Sumera village and 80 women were selected from Nagola
village. The interview was conducted in the months of January and February of the
year 2006.
This division of women was based on the total number of households living in
the villages. As villages heads (Pradhan) of both the villages informed me there are
960 total households in Sumera village and 800 total households in Nagola village in
2006. So, 10 % random sampling has been done in each village.
After primary data collection, tabulation of data and calculation of simple
percentage was done. Secondary data was collected from census of India.
III. RESEARCH FINDINGS
Sumera and Nagola village come under Koil tehsil of Aligarh district and are
connected through national highway 93. Both villages are surrounded by agricultural
land and all the three crops Rabi, Kharif and Zaid are grown in the area. At the time
of my survey it was the time of Rabi season. The Rabi season extends from mid
November to April.
The Rabi crops are generally costly and require a good amount of irrigation.
But it is evident that people are not employed for the whole year in the agriculture.
In the Rabi season the maximum labour force is absorbed in the month of mid
November to December and from March to early May. The demand for workers in
agriculture is highly seasonal and uneven due to the seasonal nature of crops. Due to
this most of the women have work only for half of the year and the rest of the year
they are unemployed. The women get employment in the Rabi season only for 1-2
months. They get maximum employment in the month of April, followed by March,
then in November followed by December. The months of May, April, November and
December are peak months for demand of women labour during Rabi season. Table 1
shows all the statistics of primary data collected during field survey.
Table 1: Tabulation of primary data collected from surveyed village Sumera
and Nagola in Aligarh District
Particulars Village wise division Total
Sumera Nagola
Total no. Percent Total no. Percent Total no. Percent
Do the families of rural women owned any farmland?
Yes 88 92.63 65 81.25 153 87.43
No 7 7.37 15 18.75 22 12.57
Size of land holding
Large 19 20 20 25 39 22.29
Medium 26 27.37 21 26.25 47 26.86
Small 43 45.26 24 30 67 38.29
Do rural women work in field?
Yes 72 75.79 66 82.5 138 78.86
No 23 24.21 14 17.5 37 21.14
Reasons for doing work in agriculture
For getting money 26 27.37 30 37.5 56 32.00
For saving money 46 48.42 36 45 82 46.86
What type of work women get in agriculture?
Watching 7 7.37 7 8.75 14 8.00
Harvesting 34 35.79 34 42.5 68 38.86
Weeding 14 14.74 11 13.75 25 14.28
Sowing 10 10.53 9 11.25 19 10.86
Winnowing 8 8.42 7 8.75 15 8.6
Overlap works 2 2.11 3 3.75 5 2.86
Source: Primary data collected through field survey in the year 2006
The employment pattern of sampled women shows that these women were largely
housewives. As Gopalan, S. (1987, 30) pointed out that it is evident from women’s work that
apart from the fact that they are paid low for their work they have to spend almost 10 to 12
hours per day on household chores like cooking, child care etc. Apart from their contribution
to agricultural production, animal husbandry and other related activities of the household for
which the economic work of their labour is not valued.
Table 2 also highlights 92 % women of both the villages were housewives. It is
because one they do not get employment throughout the year in agriculture and two, they do
not have any professional skill. Only 5.14 % women were working either in village school or
stitching etc.
Table 2: Tabulation of primary data of sampled women in Sumera and Nagola
according to their occupation
Particulars Village wise divisions Total
Sumera Nagola
Total no. Percent Total no. Percent Total no. Percent
Occupation
Housewife 88 92.63 73 91.25 161 92
Employed 4 4.21 5 6.25 9 5.14
Student 3 3.15 2 2.5 5 2.86
Other -- -- -- -- -- --
Figure 1, source: Primary data collected through field survey in the year 2006
According to Suryanarayana and Nagalakshmi (2005) rural women are subjected to
some hindrances, which impose limitations on their potential to play their role effectively.
Women are said to have equal status in the society, but when it comes to the actual decision
making, men have the final say while the women have to accept a subservient status. In
general, rural women have a low literacy level, which in turn affects the attitude of women to
socially active. Education no doubt widens the individual’s mental horizon and releases him
from the clutches of ignorance and superstitions. Economic incentives thus provided will free
the women from the shackles of inside/outside dichotomy. Increased economic productivity
will be able to influence their status in the family, as well as at the societal level.
The economic conditions of the family might have had influence on the
performance of rural women in farm and home management. The economic
conditions of a rural family can be ascertained by ownership of land. According to
survey 87.43 % women’s household had their own piece of farmland and only
12.57% women’s households did not have any farmland.
Table 3: Ownership of any farmland among sampled households
Owner of any farmland Number of Households Percent
Yes 153 87.43

No 22 12.57
The size of land holding further clarifies the level of economic affluence in
households. The size of land holdings is divided into three categories – small
landholdings i.e. below 5 hectares, medium landholdings from 5 to 10 hectares and
large landholdings is above 10 hectares. It is found that 22.29 % households had
large sized landholdings, 26.86% had medium sized landholdings, and 38.29%
households had small sized landholdings.
Table 4: Distribution of Size of Land holdings among sampled households
Size of Land No. of Household Percent Rank
Large 39 22.29 3
Medium 47 26.86 2
Small 67 38.29 1
The introduction of high yielding varieties of seeds may increase the demand for
women labour. As high yielding varieties of seed required application of chemical fertilizers
for the yield. These chemical fertilizers also increase the growth of weed and unnecessary
plants between the crops. So, frequency of weeding operations increases. Women of these
villages got employment in weeding easily. On the other hand, technological change in post
harvest processing may deprive women of a traditional income. Although the relationship is
not simple, new technology and crops seem in most places to benefit men rather than women.
As technological knowhow is considered good among men as compared to women in the
study area.
Among the sampled women 78.86 % women said that they work in the field
either on their own farmland or on others. Only 21.14 % women came under the
category of no agricultural field work. Most of the women are marginal workers.
They are not engaged in agricultural work throughout the year.
Figure 4: Percentage of sampled women who work in the farm
Generally the reason for doing farm work by women is either for earning or
for saving money. Except few families in both the villages, the households belong to
lower middle class. Figure 5 shows that among sampled women 32 % did work for
earning money while 46.86% women worked for saving money for their households.
Srivastava, S. (1988, 16) also pointed out that rural women have a dual burden of
economic condition. On one side they contribute to the family income and on the other hand
they shoulder the responsibility of looking after the family. Although in family management
they played important roles, yet they do not find any place in the village power structure as
Panchayats or Sabhas. These power structures have no separate wings for women.
Figure 5: Reason for doing work in agriculture among sampled women
Now comes the types of work done by the sampled women in the agriculture.
Large amount of men and women workers are employed in agriculture in India as
well as in the surveyed villages. The survey of the category of work done by the
sampled women in the agricultural sector showed that maximum number of women
were engaged in harvesting (38.86%) followed by weeding (14.28%), sowing
(10.86%), winnowing (8.6%), watching (8%) and overlap agricultural works
(2.86%). Here, overlap agricultural works are referred to those agricultural works
which is done at home after harvesting of crops.
Maximum women labour force is required at the time of harvesting and
weeding. Men worker can do this work but females are preferred. As during
harvesting and weeding operation there is shortage of male labour. So, this shortage
of male labour is compensated by employing women labour. Another benefit of
employing women labour is that landowner can pay lower wages to women. Most
employers including farmers also prefer men over women as hired labour since men can work
for long hours on a continuous basis.
The heavy rush of operations starts from the month of November with the
harvesting of Kharif crops and sowing of Rabi crops such as wheat, barley, mustard,
Rabi fodder, potato etc. The females are also engaged during the months of
December and January for the harvest of early potato and mustard. However, in
sowing operations, the employment of female is not common. During the months of
March, April and early May harvesting, threshing, winnowing of wheat are in full
swing in the study area. Large number of women is employed for completing these
operations.
Table 5: Type of work done by sampled women in agriculture
Type of Work Total Number Percentage Rank
Watching 14 8 5
Harvesting 68 38.86 1
Weeding 25 14.28 2
Sowing 19 10.86 3
Winnowing 15 8.6 4
Overlap works 5 2.86 6
It was observed that women were not engaged in agricultural operations like
preparation of land for sowing, sowing of crops, application of manures, fertilizers,
irrigation of crops and selling of crops in the market. The preparation of land for
sowing and sowing of crops is done by men because land is symbolic of feminine
figure, thus sowing can be done by men only. While application of fertilizers and
water required correct ratio and proportion. And since the women of the study area
were considered poor in their ability to perform mathematical calculation they are
not preferred for these operations. Marketing on the other hand an outdoor activity is
considered unfit for women in a patriarchal society.
IV. CONCLUSION
From this study, it can be concluded that despite of the introduction of modern
technology in agriculture, the agricultural operations cannot be completed without the support
of women. Apart from their domestic responsibilities women significantly contribute in the
economic management of family. Women are increasing the sustainability of their family by
all means of their hard work but their sustenance in this patriarchal society of district is still
in question. Their labour and ability to do work is considered inferior to that of men. Rural
women continue to be at a secondary position at every level, whether availability of
employment, food, education, freedom of mobility or paying of wages. These rural women
have a long way to go to get their sustenance in agriculture and patriarchal society.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I have my sincere gratitude towards my mother, brothers and my friends Shaloo and Sikha
Singh in the completion of this work. And last but not the least my respondents of Sumera
and Nagola villages; without their contribution this work could not have been completed.
REFERENCES
1. Gopalan, Sarala. 1987. Why are women lagging behind. Kurukshetra 36 (3):
30-36.
2. Srivastava, Sasmeeta. 1988. Women of rural India – an Overview. Yojana May
16 – 31, 32 (9): 4.
3. Suryanarayana, M.V.A.N., and R. Nagalakshmi. 2005. Kurukshetra, Ministry of
Rural Development Vol. 54 No. 1. New Delhi, November.

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COMMONWEALTH ASSOCATION FOR EDUCATION,

ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

RURAL WOMEN SEARCHING SUSTAINABILITY IN AGRICULTURE-

OF SUMERA AND NAGOLA VILLAGES OF ALIGARH DISTRICT IN UTTAR

Excellence International Journal of Education and

RURAL WOMEN SEARCHING SUSTAINABILITY IN AGRICULTURE- A STUDY OF

SUMERA AND NAGOLA VILLAGES OF ALIGARH DISTRICT IN UTTAR PRADESH,

primarily as labourers or cultivators. The employment as labourer or cultivator becomes

Keywords- Seasonal employment, double burden, poverty, patriarchy, harvesting, weeding,

system. As with the economic and technological advancement, the management of

agricultural work among men and women.

women’s contribution in the agricultural work.

II. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY

The objectives of the study were to provide useful analytical information

following research objectives.

To evaluate the occupational structure of rural women in both the villages

of work rural women were getting in a farm.

To achieve these objectives of research, personal interview method with a

2006. So, 10 % random sampling has been done in each village.

After primary data collection, tabulation of data and calculation of simple

III. RESEARCH FINDINGS

Table 1: Tabulation of primary data collected from surveyed village Sumera

and Nagola in Aligarh District

Particulars Village wise division Total

Total no. Percent Total no. Percent Total no. Percent

Do the families of rural women owned any farmland?

Yes 88 92.63 65 81.25 153 87.43

No 7 7.37 15 18.75 22 12.57

Size of land holding

Medium 26 27.37 21 26.25 47 26.86

Small 43 45.26 24 30 67 38.29

Do rural women work in field?

Yes 72 75.79 66 82.5 138 78.86

No 23 24.21 14 17.5 37 21.14

Reasons for doing work in agriculture

For getting money 26 27.37 30 37.5 56 32.00

For saving money 46 48.42 36 45 82 46.86

What type of work women get in agriculture?

Watching 7 7.37 7 8.75 14 8.00

Harvesting 34 35.79 34 42.5 68 38.86

Weeding 14 14.74 11 13.75 25 14.28

Sowing 10 10.53 9 11.25 19 10.86

Winnowing 8 8.42 7 8.75 15 8.6

Overlap works 2 2.11 3 3.75 5 2.86

which the economic work of their labour is not valued.

Table 2 also highlights 92 % women of both the villages were housewives. It is

Table 2: Tabulation of primary data of sampled women in Sumera and Nagola

according to their occupation

Particulars Village wise divisions Total

Total no. Percent Total no. Percent Total no. Percent

Housewife 88 92.63 73 91.25 161 92

Employed 4 4.21 5 6.25 9 5.14

Student 3 3.15 2 2.5 5 2.86

According to Suryanarayana and Nagalakshmi (2005) rural women are subjected to

performance of rural women in farm and home management. The economic

conditions of a rural family can be ascertained by ownership of land. According to

12.57% women’s households did not have any farmland.

Table 3: Ownership of any farmland among sampled households

Owner of any farmland Number of Households Percent

Yes 153 87.43

landholdings i.e. below 5 hectares, medium landholdings from 5 to 10 hectares and

large landholdings is above 10 hectares. It is found that 22.29 % households had

households had small sized landholdings.