Women-led development has been recognised as a structural game-changer for advancing India’s economic ambitions, yet its full potential remains under-leveraged. Nowhere is harnessing this potential more urgently than in the agriculture sector, the backbone of India’s economy and the largest employer of its women.
Despite their growing presence on farms, women’s contributions remain systematically unremunerative. By leveraging recent shifts in trade and technology, India has an unprecedented opportunity to unlock pathways that recognise women as equal partners in agricultural transformation.
In the past decade, structural shifts in the Indian workforce have drawn rural men into higher-paying non-farm jobs, leaving women to replace them to do the agricultural work. As a result, women’s employment in agriculture surged by 135%, and they now account for over 42% of the sector’s workforce. Two out of every three working women are now in agriculture.
Yet, this rise has come with diminishing returns. Nearly half of the women in agriculture are unpaid family workers, with their numbers jumping 2.5 times from 23.6 million to 59.1 million in just eight years.
As a result, today, one in three working women in India is unpaid. In States such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, more than 80% of women workers are in agriculture, and over half of them receive no wages.
Much of this invisibility stems from systemic inequities. Women are not officially recognised as farmers, own only 13-14% of land holdings, and earn 20-30% less than men for equivalent work. Asset ownership, decision-making power, and access to credit and government support remain male-dominated, trapping women in low-value activities.
As a result, women’s greater participation has not translated into higher income for the economy, as agriculture’s share of the national GVA fell from 15.3% in 2017-18 to 14.4% in 2024-25. Therefore, the ‘feminisation of agriculture; has, in a way, reinforced inequities rather than enabling women’s economic empowerment.
Global trade trends are opening new windows for women’s economic inclusion in agriculture. The India-U.K. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), for example, is projected to boost Indian agricultural exports by 20% within three years, granting duty-free access to over 95% of agricultural and processed food products. From rice, spices, and dairy to ready-to-eat meals, Indian producers will benefit from premium market access, with safeguards in place for sensitive sectors. Many of these export-oriented value chains employ a significant share of women. If FTA-embedded provisions for women, such as training, credit access, and market linkages, are catalysed, it could enable women’s transition from farm labourers to income-generating entrepreneurs.
The greatest opportunity lies in enabling women to move from unpaid, low-value tasks into higher-margin segments such as processing, packaging, branding, and exporting. With global demand rising for organic products and superfoods, India’s value chains for tea, spices, millets and certified organic produce are poised for expansion — sectors where women are already strongly represented. Geographical Indications, branding initiatives, and support for meeting export standards can help women producers shift from subsistence farming toward premium, value-added product markets.
Without targeted measures, women risk being excluded from the export-led opportunities emerging in Indian agriculture. Digital innovations can play a decisive role in bridging this gap. Platforms such as e-NAM, mobile-based advisory services, voice-assisted applications, and precision agriculture tools are already connecting women to markets, knowledge systems, and financial services. These solutions help formalise women’s labour while expanding access to schemes, credit, and fair pricing.
However, these benefits are contingent on overcoming structural barriers such as low digital literacy, language gaps, and limited access to affordable devices. Tackling these challenges requires collective action by all ecosystem actors — government, private sector, NGOs, self-help groups, and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs).
Encouragingly, promising models are emerging. AI-enabled solutions such as the government’s BHASHINI platform and Microsoft–AI4Bharat’s Jugalbandi are extending multilingual, voice-first access to government services. L&T Finance’s Digital Sakhi programme has trained rural women in digital and financial literacy across seven States.
At the State level, Odisha’s Swayam Sampurna FPOs showcase how technology can position women farmers at the forefront of export competitiveness. The Jhalawari Mahila Kisan Producer Company in Rajasthan leverages digital tools for direct sales and branding. Multi-stakeholder training programs for women farmers in Assam’s tea sector focus on diverse areas. It is important to scale up and emulate these platforms.
To transform women’s role in agriculture, land and labour reforms are equally vital. Policies must recognise women as independent farmers by promoting joint or individual land ownership, which in turn strengthens their eligibility for credit, insurance, and institutional support.
Source: Periodic labour force survey (PLFS), 2023-24
Shravani Prakash and Anjhana Ramesh are with ICRIER’s EPWD (Economic Policies for Women Led Development) Programme
Published – October 04, 2025 06:52 pm IST