East-West Seed, FICCI hold virtual meet on women in agriculture

Hyderabad East-West Seed India, FICCI, and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands organised a webinar titled "Get to Equal-Women in Agriculture." Jacqueline Hughes, Director-General, ICRISAT, Sudha Mysore, CEO Agrinnovate India Ltd., Government of India, Rajul Patkar, Co-Founder, Proximal Soilsens Technologies participated as panelists. Mary Ann Sayoc, Head, Public Affairs, East-West Seed Global, moderated the session and Maaike Groot, Public Affairs, East-West Seed, Global, presented the opening remarks. Nearly 300 participants from across India and other countries participated in the Webinar.

Speakers deliberated on the topic and opined that today's agriculture sector employs 80 per cent of all economically active women in India. It is a fact, despite women's participation as self-employed entrepreneurs in agriculture and allied sectors accounting for about 25 per cent, they are still not considered farmers.

They felt that if India wants to double farmer's income, the focus has to be not only on the country's women farmers but also at all the professional levels. Empowered women farmers can increase household income, develop a stable rural livelihood and contribute to ensuring food security. However, the true empowerment of women should focus on wealth creation and business leadership in agriculture.