Karnataka - Bangalore   

Farm policy should focus on women: Devaki Jain

Staff Reporter

`Shift in sectoral contribution to GDP affecting women'

WOMEN AND FARM POLICY: Minister for Science and Technology Ramachandra Gowda (left) along with economist Devaki Jain (third from left) interacting with the agriculture students at the symposium on `Women in agriculture' in Bangalore on Tuesday.  1; Photo: K. Gopinathan

BANGALORE: A dialogue on "women in agriculture" should move on from the usual celebration of women as food providers and "kamadhenus", and instead begin to understand their role as workers and poor householders because of the macro policies at the State and national levels, Devaki Jain, well-known development economist, said here on Tuesday.

Delivering the keynote address at the national symposium on "Women in agriculture", organised by the Ethological Society of India and the University of Agricultural Sciences,

Dr Jain said the shift in sectoral contributions to the GDP had an impact on women to a large extent. From being the largest contributor to the GDP, agriculture had moved to the third place, after industry and services.

There had been a shift in the political economy goals from being a self-reliant economy producing for its own needs in food, to an economy led by emphasis on foreign exchange earning, Dr. Jain said.

But the most worrisome aspect was that today focus on land use was not so much for improving the quality of land for growing food, but for other purposes such as Special Economic Zones, or building large campuses and factories in rural areas, she said.

Similarly in agricultural policy too, women were missing as a lobby.

The analysis was offered that demand for foodgrains was declining.

Minister for Planning, Science and Technology Ramachandra Gowda inaugurated the seminar and the 31st annual conference of the Ethological Society of India.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

You're right. It is getting hotter by the year
A few changes that go a long way
Traders at APMC yard observe bandh
Legislature adopts motion on OBC reservation
Don't scrap SDMCs, say experts
Elders express anguish over teacher's death
For a splash of creativity
Farm policy should focus on women: Devaki Jain
The coolest building in town
High Court refuses to stay calendar of events for urban local body elections
Where have umbrellas gone?
From Freud to kritis
Government to talk to farmers on land for SEZs
Petroleum dealers serve ultimatum
Scouting for designer bicycles
Strokes of protest
`Adopt Tamil Nadu model'
Are women teachers in distress?
Survey on illegal mining
Bagging a record
Scarlet splendour
In Bangalore Today

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu