Ergonomics for Gender Friendly Farm Equipment to Enhance Better Human-machine Interaction

Agricultural activities are dynamic in nature. Both men and women work jointly for most of the farm activities. Women's involvement is mostly passive in many farm activities due to non-suitability ofdeveloped farm equipment. Major ergonomic issues observed regarding various farm equipment with respect to farm women are dimensional, strength, posture, safety and social aspects. Ergonomicinterventions are needed in designing of farm equipment to reduce the gap of passive to active involvement of women workers/farmers in agriculture sector for increasing the work efficiency and productivity with reduce drudgery. The various ergonomic considerations and techniques (ergo-mechanical, mechatronics use and algorithmic approach) are discussed to enable developing/adapting gender-friendly farm equipment.