Gender analysis of roles and resources in agriculture and allied practices with respect to climate change factors in coastal areas of Odisha

Abstract

Women cultivators largely contribute to the agricultural production. However, their contribution remains unrecognized. The present research is about the gender roles of men and women farmers in the agricultural and allied activities and also about the various resources available to them according to their gender. The study was conducted in the Marsaghai and Dwitiyalaya village of Kendrapara district and Sanagbpur and Tirtol village of Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha state with a total sample size of 200. As this is a gender perspective research study, out of the total respondents 100 are men and 100 are women. The men and women respondents are selected by the process of random selection. The results clearly shows that activities like land preparation (75%), manure and fertilizer application (67.5%), irrigation (69%) and marketing of produce (84%) etc. are mainly done by men farmers whereas activities like plant protection measures, threshing, winnowing, grading, storing etc. are mainly done by female members of the family. It is observed that majority of the women who cultivate their farms do not have title to the land and are less likely to be included in different decision making process and financial matters and other outdoor activities relating to beneficiaries of various government schemes or extension activities.