Women Farmers in India: A Socio-Legal Analysis of Status and Emerging Policy Developments

This paper has been written by:

Author-1 Km Manisha Gour  (Research Scholar ) Department of law Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University lucknow manisha26july1996@gmail.com

Author-2 Prof (Dr) Sudarshan Verma Department of law Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University lucknow Drsudarshanvermabbau@gmail.com

***This research paper has been selected for LegalOnus Law Journal (LLJ) ISSN: 3048 8338

Introduction

The Indian economy is still agricultural, which supports almost half of the Indian population and the rural lives of the country. In addition to its role in food security and economic stability, agriculture is highly important socially to the rural community in India as it helps to sustain household income, jobs and community of rural India. The composition of the agricultural workforce has changed dramatically during the last several decades due to structural changes that include the urban migration, the decreasing profitability of farms and the agrarian distress that has occurred repeatedly over the last several decades. Among the most significant results of the changes has been the growing feminization of agriculture. Women are taking up a greater role of agricultural production, farm management, livestock rearing, and other related activities without necessarily being given legal or institutional support as their male counterparts are moving to urban areas in search of alternative jobs. They are cultivators on family land, wage earners in the agricultural sector, farm managers who maintain livestock and dairy work, and guardians of the traditional knowledge regarding seeds, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture. Nevertheless, women continue to work in the field of agriculture, although this contribution is not visible in legal, policy, and statistical documents. This work is often termed as family aid instead of being considered as independent economic activity hence leading to their systematic denial of land rights, access to credit, insurance policies and decision-making bodies.

The terminology of women farmers does not have a strict and consistent meaning in Indian law and policy circles. Policies normally equate farmers to land owners, hence leaving many women who practice farming but have no formal titles. In theory women in agriculture can be divided into three large groups; land owning women farmers, formally or informally rented land tenants and workers who have to rely on wage employment. Although both groups have different issues, they are all impacted by one problem of not being visible and unrecognized officially. This lack of appreciation has dramatic effects as the women are denied access to state support systems and are further established as peripheral members of the agrarian economy.[1]

The importance of the given study is connected to the fact that it involves the relations between legal recognition and socio-economic empowerment. Legal status is relevant in issues concerning access to resources and institutional support as well as access to redress which makes it central to the autonomy and economic safety of women. Gender justice in agriculture is also not a matter of welfare but a constitutional and developmental obligation based on the tenets of equality, dignity and social justice imprinted in the Indian Constitution. Consequently, this paper aims to review the current socio-legal situation of women farmers in India, evaluate the impact of the recent and emerging policy changes, and find the answer to the significant issue of challenges facing the future. In this way, it would make a contribution to the informed legal and policy debate and draw attention to the necessity of the gender-responsible changes in the agrarian sphere.

Historical Development of the Socio-Legal Situation of Women Farmers in India.

Pre-Colonial Agrarian and Colonial Agrarian.

Indian agrarian relations in pre colonial India were dominated by customary laws and community practices that were highly patriarchal in nature. Most of the land ownership and control rested on the hands of the male members of the families or clans whereas the rights of women to land were not direct and were mediated through their relationship as daughters, wives or widows. Despite greatly involved female involvement in the production process, as well as household subsistence, the role of women was not distributed into the official right to land. The traditional conventions in different parts of the country typically denied women any right to inheritance and ownership, which further strengthened their reliance on their male relatives and curtailed their independence as cultivators.The colonialists also formalized gender exclusion by establishing formal land revenue systems, including the systems of Zamindari, Ryotwari, and Mahalwari. These systems identified individual landowners to collect revenue, nearly always identifying the male heads of households as such. The colonial government focused on the written records and legal titles, which overlooked the inherent and informal women land ownership. The transformation of land into an inheritable and marketable commodity in the formal law rather consolidated the legal invisibility and disenfranchisement of women.The impact of this exclusion was persistent as the right to own land was transformed into the right to be agricultural, to obtain credit and state identity. [2]

Land Reforms after Independence.

Following independence, India did land reforms to destroy the feudal system and bring equity in social and economic ways. The most important ones were the abolition of the zamindari system, land ceilings and redistribution of surplus land to landless and marginal farmers. Although the motives of these reforms were progressive, they did not work to much effect in correcting the gender inequality. Allotments and land titles were usually granted in the name of male household heads, which was not obligatory according to the principles of equality, but according to the patriarchal norms.Women were considered as dependents of the household and not as independent farmers or rights-holders. In the joint family system, the control and ownership of property was still in the hands of males, which only relegated the rights of women to own land, even though they were a significant source of agricultural labor. Consequently land reforms after independence strengthened rather than undermined the gender hierarchies.

Constitutional Framework

The Indian Constitution offers a good normative base of gender equality and social justice. Article 14 promotes the equality before the law and Article 15 forbids the discrimination on the basis of sex whereas Article 21 guarantees the right to live with dignity. The Directive Principles of State Policy also accentuate the fair allocation of material resources and encouraging social justice. All these provisions have a vision of a radical legal order, which promotes female rights even in the agrarian context.  But the promise of equality in the constitution has tended to have no relation to social reality.[3] The fundamental patriarchal customs, administrative discrimination, and ignorance have curtailed successful implementation of women land and agricultural rights. The contrast between the ideals of the constitution and the level of their realization on the ground still conditions the socio-legal position of women farmers.

Judicial Interpretation

Courts have also been significant in promoting the right to inheritance and possess property by women. Courts have made liberal rulings that daughters have equal rights in the ancestral property and acknowledging the rights of women who have the right to land by the inheritance laws. These rulings have fortified the law on women and guaranteed constitutional promises of gender equality.

However, judicial interpretation on its own has been not enough to break institutionalized patriarchal norms. The transformative power of court decisions has been restrained by social opposition, procedural impediments, inaccessibility to justice, and a poor enforcement system. As such, although there has been progress in the law, the women farmers still have structural disadvantages in enhancing access and exercising their land rights in the Indian agrarian system.

Present Socio-Legal Position of Female Farmers in India.

Land Rights and Ownership

The most important factor that drives legal identity of a farmer and agricultural resources in India is still land ownership. Another breakthrough came with the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, which gave daughters equal coparcenary rights in ancestral property, which in theory gave women greater land rights. This amendment was aimed at redressing the female gender discrimination that had existed in history, acknowledging the women as equal partners in the family property including the agricultural land.  The practical effect of the amendment has however been uneven and small. The practices of inheritance rights are still influenced by the regional and social imbalances. Most of the rural regions and especially in the north and central India, women are not encouraged by social norms to claim land in order to maintain harmonious relationship within families or in the fear that they will be socially ostracized.[4] The obstacles such as administration, ignorance and the opposition of male family members hamper the power of women to claim the law. This has led to women in the country remaining at a disproportionately low percentage of land titles even with progressive laws. The reason is that the low rate of land ownership by women has direct socio-legal implications. The women farmers do not have the formal land titles and therefore in many cases fail to get the institutional credit, crop insurance, government subsidies as well as the recognition as a farmer through different schemes. In this way the land rights continue to be of central importance in the structural marginalization of women in the agrarian Indian Economy.

Availability of Agricultural Resources.

The productive and sustainable farming must rely on access to agricultural resources in the form of credit, insurance, irrigation, technology, and extension services. There is, however, another major challenge that women farmers are faced with, as they are not well recognized under the law and are also not owners of these resources. Many women do not have land titles or formal documentation which is normally required in institutional finance systems. Due to this, women have a higher probability of relying on informal forms of credit and are placed at a disadvantage of paying more interest and are vulnerable to the economy. Legitimacy on gender disparity also manifests in access to irrigation facilities, modern farm equipment, and farm technologies. The training programs and extension services are often developed in a manner that does not take into consideration the women particular needs, limitations, and time constraints. There is also male-dominated systems of delivery, mobility differences, and female extension workers that limit the participation of women. This imbalanced access does not only impact the productivity but also supports gender inequalities in terms of income and making of decisions in the agricultural sector.

Welfare Plans and Institutional Support.

To ensure improved welfare of farmers, and livelihood security, the Indian state has implemented a few agricultural and rural welfare schemes. Although in theory women become beneficiaries, the vast majority of schemes take a gender-neutral approach, which presupposes equal access and result. The practice of such neutrality tends in practice to replicate existing inequalities by overlooking the different socio-legal status of women, including women as owners of land and in any formal status of farmers, indirectly excluding a large fraction of women not in formal remarks of farming. Women are not well able to participate in places where they are eligible due to lack of awareness, bureaucracy and control of household resources by the patriarchal system. Consequently, the institutional support systems tend not to be converted into substantive empowerment of women farmers. [5]

Socio-Cultural Constraints

In addition to legal and institutional forms of neglect, social-cultural influences also substantially determine the realities in which women farmers live. The patriarchal decision making process in households and other communities restrict women in their freedom to allocate land, the choice of crops, and even money. Women are regarded as having developed the agricultural labor as an extension of the household task instead of economic productive labor.The heavy load of care work further negatively impacts the women in the agricultural markets and institutions. The combination of agriculture and family life, children, and elderly care creates the so-called double burden that limits time, movement, and ability to develop skills. Even less representation in the farmer organizations, cooperatives and the local government structures further disenfranchises the voice of women in agricultural decision making.

Source — A Struggle For Ground: Status Of Female Land Ownership in India

Policy Developments Affecting Women Farmers Towards 2026

Change in the Agricultural Policy Orientation.

Over the past few years, the agricultural policy in India has been gradually transformed towards market reforms, commercialization and global value chain linkage. Though these reforms are supposed to be efficient and increase incomes of farmers, they tend to favor large-scale and capital-intensive agriculture at expense of subsistence and smallholder agriculture. The women farmers who are mainly the small and marginal farmers are at a greater risk of being excluded under this policy orientation.

Women are disproportionately impacted by the decreased policy emphasis on subsistence agriculture and subsistence food crops as they are more involved in that type of agriculture. Lack of proper safeguards on market-driven reforms may further entrench gender inequalities on their access to resources and markets.[6]

Farm Laws and Market Reforms

The market reforms and contract farming have been advocated as alternatives to enhance price delivery and minimize middlemen. These arrangements however, are usually characterized by power imbalances between corporate bodies and farmers. Women farmers are at a disadvantage since they do not have land titles, literacy and bargaining power and thus are exploited in contract farming systems. Women have limited access to formal markets because of their mobility restrictions, inability to get market information and being ostracized by producer organizations. With the further formalization and digitalization of the markets, women encounter more obstacles to their participation, which solidifies their exclusion in agricultural value chains.[7]

Leasing and tenancy reforms of land.

Many states have come up with land leasing and tenancy reforms in order to formalize agricultural leasing agreements. These reforms are supposed to enhance efficiency and security, but they usually are gender blind. The informal tenancy systems, which prevail in the groups of women cultivators, have no legislative protection, and this poses a threat to women losing their land including widows, single women and families headed by females. The issue of tenancy without the express acknowledgment of women tenants puts leasing reforms at the risk of strengthening male dominion over land.

Credit, MSP and Income Support Policies.

Women farmers still face a big problem of accessing institutional credit. Women have an unproportional low rate of participation in spite of policy efforts like the Kisan Credit Card scheme because of land ownership provisions, administrative favoritism. Policies on Minimum Support Price (MSP) are also biased in favor of those crops that are mostly grown by men, and marginalize those crops grown by women and consumed locally because women do not own the land. Such constructional biases restrict the redistributive capacity of agricultural support policies.

Sustainable Policies on Climate and Sustainability.

Climate change has become a hallmark issue in the Indian agriculture. Adaptive practices are more and more acknowledge as requirements of climate-smart agriculture and sustainability initiatives. Nonetheless, a gender perspective is rarely incorporated in environmental policy and climate policy.Women are particularly important in ensuring climate resilience by preserving seeds, managing water, and having diversified farming systems. The knowledge and vulnerabilities of women are not sufficiently represented in the policy making processes, which restricts the impact and the inclusivity of the sustainability efforts. [8]

International Commitments

The international mechanisms of women equality like the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have shaped the national gender equality discourse in India. Nevertheless, there are still loopholes between the international commitments and the national execution. These commitments only have a transformative effect on the lives of women farmers when they have enforceable mechanisms and are monitored in a gender-disaggregated manner.

Potential Future Problems of Women Farmers

Legal and Institutional Problems: The poor implementation of inheritance and land rights is one of the most burning issues of women farmers. Legal provisions are there, yet there is administrative inertia, resistance in society and ignorance of the law which frustrate their enforcement. There is no inclusive and gender-sensitive legal definition of a farmer, which is another act that lock out women to formal recognitions and benefits.

Market and Economic Problems: Women farmers are under a consistent income security because of the volatility in prices, poor access into the market, and small acreages. Reliance on the sources of informal credit enhances the financial vulnerability and the debts. In the absence of proper institutional support, women are languishing in low-paying agricultural activities.

Strengthening the Socio-Legal Position of Women Farmers (2025-2026) Policy Recommendations.

In order to combat the bego-devil cycle of socio-legal marginalization of women farmers and effectively address emergent challenges by 2026, urgent policy interventions that are focused, rights-based and gender-transformative are imperative. The given recommendations play a pivotal role in guaranteeing that women are fairly involved in the agrarian economy of India.[9]

Financial Inclusion with a Focus: Gender-sensitive banking standards, simplified documentations and tailor-made financial services should be used to increase the access of women to institutional credit and agricultural insurances.

Agricultural Policies in response to gender: The policy on agriculture ought to come out of the gender neutrality coverage and directly target the needs of women in the MSP coverage, extension services, market access and decision making institutions.

Climate Resilience and Social Protection: Priority in climate resilience agriculture, insurance, and social security should be given to women farmers in order to mitigate the impacts of climate risks and post-pandemic vulnerabilities. Crop insurance, disaster relief, and government-provided social security programs should be available in order to insure against climate shock. Vulnerabilities that occur in the post-pandemic period, including broken supply chains, loss of livelihood, and food insecurity, predominantly affect women. Policies should hence be made gender sensitive in terms of risk reduction efforts, building of capacities and financial inclusion to ensure the resilience of women so that they are able to sustain livelihoods, adjust to environmental changes and be fully involved in agricultural decision making.[10]

Policy Developments Affecting Women Farmers Towards 2026

Source-NFHS-5 Land Ownership Patterns in India

Agency: Gender (2025 Estimate) Land Ownership in India.

The pie chart shows how agricultural land ownership is divided among both genders in India, according to the NFHS 5 estimates of 2025. The statistics support the presence of gross gender inequalities:

1. Men (68.3%): The men own the greatest percentage of agricultural land as a result, proving that most formal land titles are in the hands of men.This is an indication of deep-rooted patriarchal systems, laws, and traditional customs that ensure men get inherited or receive land.

2. Women (8.3%): Only a very little proportion of land is owned by women individually.

• Although women are immensely involved in agricultural work, they are still practically unrecognized in official land ownership systems, which restricts the availability of credit, government programs (such as KCC, PM-KISAN), and institutional assistance.

3. Joint/Other Ownership (23.4%): Such segment is land owned in common (usually by husband and wife) or other non-classified.

• Though joint ownership provides women with a greater nominal status, it is not always associated with the authority to make decisions or tailored access to institutional advantages.

Conclusion

In India, female land ownership is a very vital indicator of economic empowerment of women and social security but it remains low due to legal, social, and cultural limitations. Although such reforms as the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, which gave daughters the same right to take part in the inheritance or division of the ancestral property, still, women practically own the land. According to national statistics, although approximately one-third of women possess land in one form or another, a very small number of women own land on their own. A significant portion of the female property is co-owned with the male family members and in most instances the decision to make regarding land is still in the hands of men and this shows the disparity between the law and the practice.

The societal and cultural norms contribute greatly to the existence of this unfairness. Tradition of patriarchy, favoring male descendants, and other related customs such as dowry tend to keep women too reserved to claim their rights to their property. Also, in certain families, a land that is registered in the name of women is misused by the male members of families to generate money or even to make administrative decisions, which further deter the true ownership. Such dynamics prove that laws cannot help towards equality without support and awareness by society.[11]

Women should be empowered not only with legal rights to be expressed meaningfully but they should also get tools to enforce their rights, education concerning property rights as well as access to financial and agricultural resources. This can be achieved through real empowerment of women by giving them the full control of land, decision-making and financial gain of their property. Enhancing female tenure is thus critical to gender justice, besides social and economic progress. To sum up, despite successful legislative developments in India to appreciate the right of women to land, its implementation has not been even. Implementing legal, cultural and community-level changes is a key to ensuring genuine gender equality in land ownership as it would translate land into a tool of empowerment and independence that would help women.

References

• FAO. (2024). Gender equality and climate action: Building resilient agriculture in India. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://www.fao.org/india/news/detail‑events/en/c/1711811/
• Singh, P. (2023). Exploring gender approach to climate change and agroecology: Women farmers’ search for agency in India. Asian Journal of Social Science, 51, 18–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajss.2022.09.004
• Sukumar, A. (2025). Gendered impacts of climate change on women working in the agricultural sector. CDPP. Retrieved from https://www.cdpp.co.in/articles/gendered‑impacts‑of‑climate‑change‑on‑women‑who‑are‑working‑in‑the‑agricultural‑sector
• UN Women & World Resources Institute. (2025). India: Identifying hotspots for gender‑focused climate‑smart interventions. https://wrd.unwomen.org/explore/insights/india‑identifying‑hotspots‑gender‑focused‑climate‑smart‑interventions
• Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (n.d.). Women‑led climate resilient farming model (WCRF). United Nations. https://sdgs.un.org/partnerships/women‑led‑climate‑resilient‑farming‑model‑wcrf
• Female farmers facing food insecurity and climate change vulnerability in rural area. (2025). Progress in Disaster Science, 26, 100437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pdisas.2025.100437
• Business Standard. (2024, April 26). Setting the record straight: Less than 10% of Indian women may own land. https://www.business‑standard.com/india‑news/setting‑the‑record‑straight‑less‑than‑10‑of‑indian‑women‑may‑own‑land‑124042600447_1.html
• Kumar, S. (2025). Women and climate action. Observer Research Foundation. https://www.orfonline.org/research/women‑and‑climate‑action
• FAO & Government of India. (2024). Green‑Agriculture: Integrated climate‑resilient agriculture initiatives. FAO Country Office for India. https://www.fao.org/india/news/detail‑events/en/c/1711811/
• Gendered Justice in Disaster Relief. (2025). Gendered Justice in Disaster Relief: Legal Gaps in Protecting Women Farmers from Climate‑Induced Displacement. CDPP. https://www.cdpp.co.in/articles/gendered‑justice‑in‑disaster‑relief‑legal‑gaps‑in‑protecting‑women‑farmers‑from‑climate‑induced‑displacement
• International Year of Women Farmers. (2025). UN declares 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer. https://hindicurrentaffairs.adda247.com/un‑declares‑2026‑as‑international‑year‑of‑the‑woman‑farmer/
• Leisa India. (2023). Nurturing climate resilience in agriculture by women farmers. https://www.leisaindia.org/nurturing‑climate‑resilience‑in‑agriculture‑by‑women‑farmers/
• National Family Health Survey (NFHS‑5). (2023–24). India Fact Sheet. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. (Use for land ownership & socio‑demographic stats).
• UN Women. (2025). Gender and climate‑smart agriculture insights. UN Women. (Can be cited for policy and program analysis).
• AgriScience journal. (2023). Gender, agriculture policies, and climate‑smart agriculture in India. Agricultural Systems, 212, 103751. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2023.103751

[1] Feminism in India. (2024, July 25). A struggle for ground: Status of female land ownership in India. Feminism in India. https://feminisminindia.com/2024/07/25/a-struggle-for-ground-status-of-female-land-ownership-in-india/

[2] Baviskar, B. S. (1995). Women, land, and power: Local elites and agrarian reform in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 30(37), 2382–2390.

[3] The Constitution of India, 1950. https://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india

[4] Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, No. 39, Acts of Parliament, 2005. https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A2005-39.pdf

[5] Deepak, S., Somnath, S., Disha, S., & Jain, C. (2023). Women’s land ownership in India: Evidence from digital land records. Land Use Policy, 133, 106835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.106835

[6] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2011). The role of women in agriculture. FAO. http://www.fao.org/3/i2050e/i2050e.pdf

[7] Machio, P. M., & Meemken, E.-M. (2023). Women’s participation in contract farming. The Journal of Development Studies, 59(6), 894–910. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2023.2188109

[8] Rawal, V., Tiwari, R., & Kumar, S. (2022). Gendered impacts of climate change in Indian agriculture: Policy gaps and opportunities. Journal of Rural Studies, 95, 285–297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2022.06.004

[9] Kulkarni, S., Bhat, S., Harshe, P., & Satpute, S. (2021). Locked out of livelihoods: Impact of COVID‑19 on single women farmers in Maharashtra, India. Economia Politica, 39(1), 185–202.

[10] Legal Services India. (2025). Women’s property rights and the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005. Retrieved from https://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1447/Women.html

[11] Business Standard. (2024, April 26). Setting the record straight: Less than 10% of Indian women may own land. https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/setting-the-record-straight-less-than-10-of-indian-women-may-own-land-124042600447_1.html