Women empowerment in agricultural decision making and extension work in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir

Empowerment implies intellectual enlightenment, economic enrichment and social emancipation of women. The core strength of empowerment lies in the ability of a woman to control her own destiny. For empowerment a woman must have equal opportunities, equal capabilities and equal access to resources. Furthermore she should be enabled to use the rights, capabilities, resources and opportunities to make strategic choices and decisions in her life. The concept of women empowerment is associated with gender equality. In India research conducted indicates that sex ratio is grossly unfavourable for females. Wide disparity exists between male and female literacy rates. Employment and work participation rates are also poor for women. Researches also indicate that this discrimination against females is borne out of cultural and religious values that springs from the patriarchal ethos dominant in most parts of our country. In the food security the rural women over the world play a major role in agricultural production and in the development and stability of the rural areas but women face a number of constraints in approaching agricultural extension sources especially in developing countries. Rural women along with men play an important role in the agriculture sector like crop production, livestock production as well as cottage industry. But they have incomplete access resources, agricultural extension education services, newest technical knowledge and information sources. The present study was focused on the role of women in agricultural development and the constraints faced by them.