Maharashtra’s recognition of women farmers will break gender barriers

Women Farmers Certificates are official documents that recognise women as farmers even when they do not own the land they work on. Maharashtra is scheduled to begin issuing them on October 2, following the Women Farmer’s Empowerment Act 2026. The certificates address a gap in how farming work is formally defined.

Women who sow, tend, harvest or manage agricultural activities can qualify. The recognition also extends to women working in allied activities, including livestock, poultry and fisheries. This matters because many women perform essential farm work but are treated only as labourers when land titles are held by others.

The certificates could help women become visible to institutions that provide farm support. The article does not specify every eligibility rule or benefit. However, formal recognition is presented as a first step toward better access to credit, water, technology, extension services and government support, while strengthening women’s decision-making power.

The striking imbalance is that women are central to farming but have far less control over land. Nationally, women account for close to 60% of the agricultural workforce, according to figures shared in Parliament. Yet they hold less than 15% of land titles. Their work is therefore much larger than their formal ownership.

Maharashtra shows the same pattern more sharply. About 82% of the state’s rural female workforce is engaged in agriculture. Despite this, women hold only about 15.5% of operational farmland. They may manage fields, livestock or other farm activities without holding the documents that define farmers in official systems.

These figures explain why recognition matters. Without titles or formal status, women struggle to access credit, water, technology and extension services. The certificates are intended to begin closing the gap between women’s contribution to agriculture and their control over its resources.

Women have often remained outside the formal definition of a farmer because they do not hold land titles. Yet many sow, tend, harvest and manage agricultural systems. They also care for livestock, poultry and fisheries. Official recognition has focused more on ownership than on the work required to produce food.

This exclusion grew as men moved into non-farm jobs and women took greater responsibility for managing agricultural land. Their duties increased, but their control over assets and decisions did not rise equally. Without documents, institutions could treat them as farm labourers rather than farmers.

The result was restricted access to essential resources. Women faced greater difficulty obtaining credit, water, technology and extension services. The new certificates seek to recognise their actual economic role. They could help replace an ownership-only view with one that also acknowledges farm management and allied agricultural work.

Formal recognition could change how institutions identify and serve women farmers. A certificate may provide evidence that a woman actively farms or manages an allied activity, even without land ownership. That visibility matters when support systems rely on a formal farmer identity.

The article links recognition with access to credit, water, technology and extension services. It also describes women’s exclusion from resources and institutional support as a major problem. In practice, certificates could make it easier for women to be considered for farm assistance, training and government schemes. The article does not state specific rules for crop insurance or subsidies.

The larger change would be institutional. Women could move from being treated mainly as labourers to being recognised economic actors. That could strengthen their role in decisions about crops, resources and income. The certificates alone may not remove every barrier, but they establish a legal basis for further support.

Women often face several market barriers at once. Mandis remain male-dominated, while poor mobility, limited price information and weak storage or processing facilities reduce their choices. These obstacles can force women to sell quickly to middlemen, often under distress conditions.

Self-Help Groups, cooperatives and Farmer Producer Organisations offer a collective response. By organising together, women can improve access to credit, farm inputs and market information. They can also strengthen their ability to reach markets, develop leadership and invest in storage, processing or other shared activities. Collective institutions give individual farmers greater support and visibility.

The article describes wider benefits from such organisation. Diversified livelihoods, including livestock, fisheries and value-added processing, have improved incomes and resilience. Women-led post-harvest enterprises have opened new routes to financial independence. These groups therefore help women move beyond low-value labour and participate more strongly in agricultural decisions and markets.

Maharashtra’s Vidarbha programmes show that women’s farming power grows when knowledge, organisation and institutional support come together. In Wardha and Yavatmal, the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation worked with women under Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana. The initiative included vulnerable groups, such as widows of farmers affected by agrarian distress.

The programme combined sustainable agriculture training with leadership development and local collectives called samitis. Women gained access to knowledge, resources and institutional support. Training covered climate-resilient farming, resource management and technologies that reduce physical drudgery. Combining scientific knowledge with women’s lived experience led to better decisions and helped women assert their identity as farmers.

The programme also supported livestock, fisheries and value-added processing. These diversified livelihoods improved incomes and resilience. Its lessons later informed a national programme under the National Rural Livelihood Mission. The experience suggests that stronger rural livelihoods require both practical training and collective institutions that give women voice and bargaining power.

Land matters because it is closely linked to control over farm resources and decisions. Women may manage fields and sustain food production, but without titles they often cannot access credit, water, technology or extension services easily. This leaves them with responsibility but limited authority over assets and income.

Ownership or control can also strengthen a woman’s position within farming institutions and households. It makes her economic contribution more visible and can support participation in decisions about production, investment and livelihoods. The article’s examples show that formal recognition, training and collective organisation help women claim a stronger identity as farmers.

The gender gap remains wide. Women form close to 60% of the national agricultural workforce but hold less than 15% of land titles. In Maharashtra, they make up 82% of the rural female workforce in agriculture but hold about 15.5% of operational farmland. Closing this gap is central to gender justice and resilient agriculture.