SRINAGAR: Nearly three out of every four people engaged in agriculture and allied activities in Jammu and Kashmir are women, placing the Union Territory among the highest in the country in terms of women’s participation in the farm sector. However, only 7.6 per cent of operational agricultural land holdings in J&K are managed by women, according to data shared by the Centre in Parliament.
In a written reply to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said women account for 74.73 per cent of the agricultural workforce in Jammu and Kashmir, significantly higher than the national average of 59.81 per cent. Only Rajasthan (78.12%), Himachal Pradesh (77.34%), Jharkhand (75.57%) and Bihar (74.58%) recorded higher or comparable participation levels.
Despite their dominant role in farming and allied activities, women continue to have limited ownership of agricultural land. As per the Agriculture Census 2015-16, only 7.6 per cent of operational land holdings in Jammu and Kashmir are operated by women, well below the national average of 13.96 per cent.
The Centre informed Parliament that it is implementing several schemes to support women farmers, including access to concessional crop loans through the Kisan Credit Card-linked Modified Interest Subvention Scheme, enrolment under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, training through Krishi Vigyan Kendras and the Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA), higher subsidies under the Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing, and financial assistance for farm mechanisation.
The government also said the Department of Land Resources has written to all states and Union Territories to introduce a gender column in land records to facilitate women’s access to institutional credit, crop insurance and other agricultural benefits. It added that all willing farmers, including women, sharecroppers and tenant farmers, are eligible to enrol under the PMFBY crop insurance scheme.
