Mann-Whitney U test assessment of gender based participation in rice farming

Abstract

This study explored gender based participation in rice farming in Tripura, revealing distinct roles undertaken by farm men and farm women throughout various stages of the rice farming. A total of 160 male and 160 female farmers were included in the study to examine and compare the participation of farm men and women in various rice farming activities. The objectives of the study were accomplished using the Mann-Whitney U test for statistical analysis. The study revealed a statistically significant gender based difference in participation in rice farming activities. The Mann-Whitney U test confirmed that farm men had a significantly higher extent of participation compared to farm women, with a very large effect size, indicating a practically meaningful gap. Farm men were predominantly involved in tasks related to land preparation, input application, irrigation, spraying, and mechanized harvesting, while farm women were more engaged in labour intensive and post-harvest activities such as hand weeding, winnowing, and drying. Participation patterns varied widely between activities, with some showing a clear male or female dominance. Furthermore, the distribution of participation levels demonstrated that farm men mostly fell within medium to high participation categories, whereas the majority of farm women were in the low participation group. The findings reveal a continued inequality in how agricultural roles are shared between men and women, emphasizing the importance of adopting gender inclusive measures in extension programs and agricultural policies.