Women farmers take centre stage at the Maharashtra-MSSRF stakeholder consultation

Participants highlighted how the lack of formal recognition as farmers and the absence of land titles in their names severely limit women’s access to credit, institutional loans, water, and a wide range of government schemes.

The consultation was chaired by Vikas Rastogi, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Department, Government of Maharashtra and Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chairperson, MSSRF.

It brought together civil society organisations working with women in agriculture, researchers, and officials from departments of Animal Husbandry, Cooperatives, the Maharashtra State Rural Livelihoods Mission, and the Integrated Child Development Services scheme, among others.

“Women contribute immensely to agriculture in Maharashtra, yet their work remains largely unrecognised,” Rastogi said during the consultation.

“During the 100th birth centenary of Prof. M.S. Swaminathan last year, the Government of Maharashtra declared his birthday as Sustainable Agriculture Day. We have had a series of discussions on the role of women farmers and the need to promote climate-resilient and nutritionally diverse crops since then and have also signed an MoU with MSSRF to strengthen sustainable agriculture, nutrition security, and gender justice across the state,” he added.

A draft policy paper on Women Farmers’ Entitlements, jointly prepared by Vidhi Legal Centre and MSSRF, was presented at the consultation, followed by discussions on grassroots challenges and possible policy and programmatic solutions. Key recommendations in the paper include adopting the National Policy for Farmers (2007) definition of a farmer based on work performed, issuing farmer identity cards to women, and creating a comprehensive database of women farmers.

“Maharashtra’s Chief Minister has been extremely supportive and encouraging of efforts to strengthen the role of women in agriculture,” said Dr Soumya Swaminathan. “The state has a long legacy of working towards women’s empowerment, including in agriculture. However, as women continue to struggle for recognition as farmers, their access to credit, institutional loans, water, and government schemes remains severely constrained. Climate change is further intensifying these challenges, creating a double burden for women farmers who are already navigating systemic barriers.”Dr Swaminathan said.

She referred to Prof. M.S. Swaminathan’s concept of Biohappiness, which focuses on well-being through harmony between ecological sustainability, human health, and social equity. “These conversations are critical to advancing biohappiness through strengthening the role of women farmers, identifying climate-resilient and nutritionally diverse opportunity crops, and other enabling interventions in agricultural systems,” she said.

The consultation also included comments and observations from N. Ramaswami, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries; Pravin Darade, Principal Secretary, Cooperation and Marketing; Suraj Mandhare, Commissioner (Agriculture), Maharashtra and others.