All Overview of Agro Business in Uttar Pradesh: With reference to Women Entrepreneurs

Women are to be considered as equal partners in the process of development. However, because of centuries of exploitation and subjugation, Indian women have remained at the receiving end. Women in India have been the neglected lot. They have not been actively involved in the mainstream of development even though they represent equal proportion of the population and labour force. Primarily women are the means of survival of their families, but are generally unrecognised and undervalued, being placed at the bottom of the pile. Women contribute significantly to the running of family businesses mostly in the form of unpaid effort and skills. The value of this effort is underestimated both by the families that take it for granted and in academic studies. Agriculture can be an important engine of growth and poverty reduction. However, the sector is underperforming in many countries in part because women, who are often a crucial resource in agriculture and the rural economy, face constraints that reduce their productivity. Women comprise about 43% of the agricultural labour force globally and in developing countries. On the other hand, many of the enterprises defined as being run by women (i.e., enterprises in which women hold the controlling share) are in fact run in their names by men who control operations and decision making. Programs meant to reach women entrepreneurs can succeed only if they take note of this paradox as well as of the familial and social conditioning that reduces the confidence, independence and mobility of women.

Women play an indispensable role in farming and in improving the quality of life in rural areas. However, their contributions often remain concealed due to some social barriers and gender bias. Even government programmes often fail to focus on women in agriculture. This undermines the potential benefits from programmes, especially those related to food production, household income improvements, nutrition, literacy, poverty alleviation and population control. Equitable access for rural women to educational facilities would certainly improve their performance and liberate them from their marginalised status in the society. The contribution of women to agricultural and food production is significant, but it is impossible to verify empirically the share produced by women. Women's participation in rural labour markets varies considerably across regions, but invariably women are over represented in unpaid, seasonal and part-time work, and the available evidence suggests that women are often paid less than men, for the same work. This paper re-affirms that women make essential contributions to agriculture and rural enterprises across the developing world especially when agro processing industry of India is growing day by day. However, there is much diversity in women's roles and over-generalisation undermines policy relevance and planning. The context is important and policies must be based on sound data and gender analysis.