3 months ago
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President Droupadi Murmu connected Thursday (March 12, 2026) said women engaged successful agriculture and agri-food sectors should get a greater relation successful argumentation formation, decision-making and enactment positions, and called for corporate enactment to adjacent sex gaps crossed the worth chain.
Addressing the three-day Global Conference connected Women successful Agri-Food Systems, the President said occurrence lawsuit studies connected women successful agriculture should beryllium published wide to guarantee much radical were alert of their contributions.
Emphasising India's strategical prime of women-led development, Ms. Murmu said women successful the agriculture assemblage indispensable beryllium fixed a greater relation successful argumentation formulation, decision-making, and enactment positions.
"Larger information of women astatine each levels successful the assemblage volition beforehand gender-inclusive cultivation growth," she said.
She called for targeted enactment for women farmers connected issues of onshore titles, entree to method knowledge, and organization finance.
On the relation of technology, Ms. Murmu highlighted 'Sarlaben' —an AI-powered inaugural inspired by the government's livestock attraction vision— arsenic an illustration of however artificial quality is opening caller possibilities for women farmers.
Noting that the authorities had conferred Padma Shri awards connected women farmers from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Bihar, Ms. Murmu said the adjacent procreation should gully inspiration from these trailblazers to lend meaningfully to the workplace sector.
The President welcomed the UN's declaration of 2026 arsenic the International Year of Women Farmers, describing it arsenic a telephone for "collective enactment to adjacent sex gaps and beforehand enactment roles for women crossed the agri-food worth chain".
The President cited a bid of cardinal authorities initiatives from the past decennary that person sought to economically empower women successful agriculture.
The Jan Dhan Yojana, the world's largest fiscal inclusion programme, present has 570 cardinal slope accounts, of which 56% are held by women. Women besides represent 68% of each Mudra indebtedness beneficiaries, reflecting the scope of India's integer nationalist infrastructure.
Under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana— National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)— implicit 10 crore agrarian households and 90 lakh self-help groups (SHGs) person been mobilised, making it 1 of the world's largest women-led assemblage initiatives.
More than 4.6 crore women farmers nether this ngo person received enactment for adopting improved farming practices.
The Namo Drone Didi strategy provides drones to women SHGs for precision agriculture. The National Rural Livelihood Mission has acceptable a people of creating 6 crore Lakhpati Didis— women earning implicit Rs 1 lakh annually— of whom much than 3 crore person already achieved that status.
The 2025-26 Union Budget has besides introduced SHE Marts (Self-Help Entrepreneur Marts) community-owned retail outlets successful each territory dedicated to selling products made by SHGs and agrarian enterprises— to supply women successful agriculture and allied sectors amended marketplace access.
Closing her address, Ms. Murmu invoked the planetary model of people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership, urging each stakeholders to marque sex a peculiar precedence successful some thought and action.
"With effectual sex inclusion successful each sphere of activity, including agriculture, we volition not lone execute the SDGs but volition besides marque the satellite a overmuch much delicate and harmonious place," she said.
Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, ICAR Director General M L Jat, Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS) laminitis president R.S. Paroda, Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Authority (PPVFRA), chairperson Trilochana Mohapatra among others were contiguous astatine the event.
The three-day lawsuit focuses connected sharing inspiring occurrence stories of women leaders and scientists; integrating gender-sensitive approaches into cultivation policies and institutions; examining entrepreneurship, fiscal models, and marketplace linkages to fortify women's roles successful worth chains.
It volition besides deliberate connected integer tools, climate-smart innovations, and women-friendly technologies designed to boost productivity and trim drudgery.
