OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH HAZARDS AND THEIR CAUSES AMONG WOMEN IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE

Women?s contribution to agriculture, whether it is in subsistence farming or commercial agriculture, when measured in number of tasks performed and time spent, is greater than men. The proportion of women in agricultural production and postharvest activities ranges from 20 to 70% and their involvement is increasing in many developing countries, particularly with the development of export-oriented irrigated farming, which is associated with a growing demand for female labour, including migrant workers. Generally, operations performed by men are those that entail use of machinery and animals. Contrary to this, women always rely on manual labour using only their own energy. Not only are women overworked, their work is more arduous than that undertaken by men. Further, since women?s work is largely based on human energy it is considered unskilled and hence less productive. On this basis, women are invariably paid less wage despite their working harder and for longer hours.