The Invisible Backbone, Why India’s Women Farmers Need Rights, Justice, and Action
As the sun rises over the vast agrarian landscapes of India, it illuminates a paradox that lies at the very heart of the nation’s rural economy. Millions of women are already in the fields, their hands guiding the plough, their backs bent over rows of crops, their knowledge managing the complex calculus of sowing, weeding, and harvesting. They negotiate with input dealers, manage labour, and make critical decisions that determine the success or failure of the family farm. They are the backbone of Indian agriculture. And yet, in the eyes of the law, in the databases of government schemes, and in the corridors of banks, they are often invisible. They are not recognized as “farmers.” On this International Women’s Day, March 8, 2026, with the global theme of “Rights. Justice. Action. For All Women and Girls,” and with 2026 also being observed as the International Year of the Woman Farmer, the stark disconnect between the contribution of women to agriculture and their lack of formal recognition demands urgent and systemic redress. The future of India’s food security, nutrition, and rural prosperity depends on it.
The numbers tell a story of massive, unrecognized contribution. As male migration from rural areas accelerates in search of non-farm employment, agriculture is undergoing a profound “feminisation.” Women are taking on ever-greater responsibility not just for cultivation, but for risk management, climate adaptation, and household food provisioning. They are the de facto farmers, the primary producers, the front-line workers in the battle to feed the nation. Yet, this expanded role has not been accompanied by expanded rights or security. Instead, it has placed immense pressure on women, who must now balance their already heavy agricultural workloads with their traditional reproductive responsibilities—cooking, cleaning, and caring for children and the elderly. The absence of a supportive care ecosystem and the lack of access to drudgery-reduction technologies mean that for millions of rural women, every day is a marathon of unrelenting toil.
The root of this systemic exclusion lies in a fundamental structural disconnect: the gap between work and ownership. Legal reforms, most notably the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, which granted daughters equal inheritance rights to ancestral property, have not translated into tangible gains on the ground. In most rural households, land and other productive assets remain registered almost exclusively in men’s names. Social norms, deeply entrenched patrilineal inheritance practices, limited legal awareness among women, and administrative hurdles in the revenue department all conspire to keep women’s names off land records. The woman who manages the daily farm operations, who knows the soil and the seeds, who negotiates with the traders, does so without the legal standing that a land title would confer. She is a worker on land she does not own.
This lack of legal recognition has cascading, devastating consequences. Without a land title or formal recognition as a “farmer,” women face systemic barriers to accessing virtually every resource they need to succeed. They cannot get institutional credit from banks, which demand collateral in the form of land. They are ineligible for crop insurance schemes. They are excluded from irrigation projects. They are not reached by agricultural extension services, which tend to target male landowners. They are locked out of programmes promoting climate-resilient technologies. The design of these flagship schemes, by linking eligibility to formal ownership, builds the exclusion of women directly into their architecture. The labour and contribution of women remain invisible and chronically undervalued, creating a perverse cycle where those who do the most work have the least access to the tools and support they need.
The consequences of this exclusion are not just economic; they are profoundly nutritional. India continues to carry an unacceptably high burden of malnutrition among women and girls. Persistently high anaemia rates among women of reproductive age, combined with widespread micronutrient deficiencies, amount to a silent national emergency. Studies show that resource-poor women, who experience immense work burdens, especially during peak agricultural seasons, suffer severe health issues and nutrient deficiencies. The paradox is stark and deeply troubling: the women who help feed the nation are themselves unable to secure a diverse, nutritious diet for themselves and their children. These nutritional deficits have intergenerational consequences. Maternal undernutrition and anaemia contribute directly to low birth weight, stunting, and impaired development in children, trapping the next generation in a cycle of poor health and limited potential. Diets in many rural households remain cereal-heavy and low in the pulses, fruits, vegetables, and animal-source foods that are essential for good nutrition. The women who grow the food are often the last to eat, and they eat the least.
Over the last decade, India has put in place an ambitious right-to-food framework, anchored in the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. This landmark law guarantees subsidised cereals to a large portion of the population, as well as supplementary nutrition for pregnant and lactating women and young children, and maternity entitlements. Several states have added local foods, millets, and fortified staples to their public distribution systems. Yet, the improvements in women’s nutrition have been uneven, and the anaemia trends remain deeply worrying. The entitlements guaranteed by law often halt at the threshold of the home, failing to translate into improved outcomes because the underlying structural inequalities remain unaddressed. A woman who is overworked, undervalued, and without assets cannot fully benefit from food transfers alone.
Bridging the gap between law and lived reality requires a fundamental shift towards gender-transformative approaches. It requires moving beyond piecemeal programmes and addressing the systemic inequalities that define women’s status in agri-food systems. The late Professor M.S. Swaminathan, the father of the Green Revolution in India, consistently emphasized the need for women’s control over what he called the “four Cs” of agri-food chains: conservation, cultivation, consumption, and commercialisation. His vision was of women as active agents, not passive beneficiaries. To realize that vision, four urgent priorities demand attention.
First, the visibility of women farmers in law, data, and policy must be made a reality. This requires the collection and public availability of granular, gender-disaggregated data. More importantly, it requires all agricultural policies and schemes to adopt a functional definition of a “farmer”—one based on the activities a person performs, not on the land they own. India’s National Policy for Farmers (2007) provides just such a definition, recognizing that a farmer is anyone engaged in agricultural and related activities, including landless cultivators, tenants, agricultural labourers, sharecroppers, tribal and forest gatherers. This inclusive definition must be the bedrock of all policy, finally acknowledging the contributions of millions of women.
Second, women’s rights to land and productive resources must be strengthened with urgency. This means accelerating the implementation of equal inheritance laws, ensuring that daughters actually get the land they are legally entitled to. It requires promoting joint spousal titles for all agricultural land, so that both husband and wife are recorded as co-owners. It means creating incentives for registering land and housing in women’s names, simplifying revenue processes, and strengthening women’s roles in the management of common property resources like village ponds and grazing lands. Embedding these land and asset questions within the framework of women’s collectives, such as Self-Help Groups (SHGs), can enhance their collective bargaining power and provide the peer support needed to navigate a male-dominated system.
Third, food systems and safety nets must be aligned with nutritional objectives. Public procurement policies should actively promote the cultivation of nutritious crops—pulses, millets, fruits, and vegetables—by small-scale and women farmers. These diverse, nutritious products must then be effectively channelled through public distribution systems and school meal programmes, diversifying diets and creating a reliable market for women producers. Community-driven approaches, such as promoting kitchen gardens, establishing women’s seed banks to preserve local biodiversity, and supporting localised food planning, can significantly enhance women’s roles in transforming both what is grown and what is eaten.
Fourth, women farmers must have equitable access to technology and extension services. Labour-saving tools—from simple weeders to motorized harvesters—can dramatically reduce drudgery, ease the crushing burden of manual labour, and protect women’s long-term health. Equally important is access to agricultural extension services that are designed to reach women, providing them with timely information on climate-resilient practices, market prices, and new technologies. When equipped with knowledge and appropriate tools, women become powerful agents of change, making informed choices that enhance productivity, resilience, and household nutrition.
The experience of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) has consistently shown that when women gain knowledge, rights, and institutional backing, they do not just become better farmers; they become leaders. They become the drivers of climate-resilient, biodiversity-rich, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture. The work of the World Food Programme (WFP) in India and globally demonstrates that placing women at the centre of food security and social protection programmes improves outcomes not only for them, but for their children, their families, and entire communities. On this International Women’s Day, the call for “Rights. Justice. Action.” must move beyond rhetoric. It must translate into a concrete national mission to recognize women as farmers, to secure their rights to land and resources, and to empower them to claim their rightful place at the centre of India’s agricultural future. The invisible backbone of Indian farming must finally be seen, supported, and celebrated.
Questions and Answers
Q1: What is the central paradox facing women in Indian agriculture, according to the article?
A1: The central paradox is that while women are the backbone of Indian agriculture—performing the majority of farm work, managing operations, and increasingly becoming de facto farmers due to male migration—they are largely invisible in the eyes of the law and policy. They lack formal recognition as “farmers” and rarely hold titles to the land they cultivate, which excludes them from accessing credit, insurance, and other critical resources.
Q2: How does the lack of land ownership affect a woman farmer’s access to government schemes and institutional support?
A2: Without a land title or formal recognition, women face systemic barriers. They cannot use land as collateral to access institutional credit from banks. They are ineligible for crop insurance schemes, irrigation projects, and agricultural extension services, all of which are typically linked to formal land ownership. This exclusion is “built into the design” of many flagship programmes.
Q3: What is the link between the invisibility of women farmers and India’s high burden of malnutrition?
A3: The link is direct and devastating. Women farmers are overworked, undervalued, and lack access to resources. Their nutritional needs are often the last to be met in a household. High anaemia rates and micronutrient deficiencies among women are a “silent emergency.” This maternal undernutrition has intergenerational consequences, contributing to low birth weight and stunting in children, trapping families in a cycle of poor health.
Q4: What are the four urgent priorities outlined in the article to address this systemic exclusion?
A4: The four priorities are:
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Visibility: Recognizing women as farmers in law and policy by using a functional definition based on the work they do, not land ownership.
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Rights to Resources: Strengthening women’s land rights through joint titles, enforcing inheritance laws, and registering assets in women’s names.
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Nutritional Alignment: Aligning food systems and safety nets (like PDS) to promote and distribute nutritious crops grown by women.
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Access to Technology: Ensuring women have equitable access to labour-saving tools and extension services to reduce drudgery and enhance decision-making.
Q5: What vision of Professor M.S. Swaminathan is cited in the article, and how does it relate to women’s empowerment in agriculture?
A5: The article cites Professor Swaminathan’s emphasis on women’s control over the “four Cs” of agri-food chains: Conservation, Cultivation, Consumption, and Commercialisation. His vision was of women not as passive beneficiaries of welfare schemes, but as active agents and leaders in agriculture. The article argues that achieving this requires giving them the rights, knowledge, and institutional backing they currently lack.
