Socio-Economic Condition of Female Agricultural Labourers- With Special Reference to Mandya District

Abstract

Women in rural India are involved in various stages of agricultural operations starting from sowing of seeds to hand weeding, harvesting and post-harvest activities. Over time, as technological change in agriculture has brought about a substantial change in labour-land use pattern, the nature of work of rural women has also undergone a change. Women spend a substantial part of their time not only in various activities directly related to agriculture but also in the management of livestock, poultry, etc. (Sisodia, 1985; Agarwal, 1988). However, the true picture of female work and their contribution to family expenditure is usually not clearly presented. Many economically productive activities performed by women go unrecorded as such or are subsumed within ‘domestic work’. In this paper an attempt has been made to study the socio economic condition of female agricultural labourers, and suggest suitable measures for improving their living condition.