Files
Abstract
Rural women in Pakistan, under a small holding system of
farming, play a pivotal role in farming. They actively participate
in a range of activities related to crop production and livestock
management. Rural women remain busy from dawn to dusk in
various agricultural activities, including pre-harvest, post-harvest
and livestock management. Their participation is well dispersed
but less perceived because of insufficient data to show their active
involvement in various agricultural activities. Keeping these points
in mind, this study was designed to explore the extent of women’s
participation in various agricultural activities in district Bahawalpur
(Southern Punjab, Pakistan). A total of 125 rural women were
selected through multistage random sampling technique and interviewed
with a well-designed, pre-tested interview schedule,
and the data was analyzed using SPSS. The results of the data
analysis revealed that rural women’s participation level was at the
top (M = 2.87 and SD = 0.42) in picking of cotton while their participation
level was found low (M = 1.78 and SD = 0.88) in
broadcasting of seed/fertilizer among different crop production
and management related activities. While on the other hand their
extent of participation was found at the top (M = 2.90 and SD =
0.30) in cleaning of animal’s sheds and found low (M = 2.02 and
SD = 0.83) in calf rearing among different livestock production
and management which were being performed by rural women.
Regarding daily time given by rural women to perform various
crop production, livestock production and household activities
majority of rural women they devote > than 8 hours in a day to
perform these activities as reported by 27.2%, 32.8% and 76.8%
of the respondents, respectively. It is recommended that national
commission should be established to recognize and documented
the participation of rural women at various national and international
forums. It is also recommended that women training wing should
be established at national level under the supervision of district
administration to train rural women in different areas of crop and
livestock production so that they can contribute in a better way in
the national economy.