Women working in fields must be recognised as farmers: Shivraj Chouhan

Raisen, October 16 (IANS) Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said women who work in fields should be formally recognised as farmers, stressing that their contribution to agriculture should matter as much as land ownership.Addressing a programme on Women Farmers’ Day in Sanchi, his parliamentary constituency in Madhya Pradesh, Chouhan said women make significant contributions to crop cultivation, animal husbandry, milk production and livestock care, but their work often needs greater recognition.“Women who work in the fields with their own hands are women farmers. We will make every effort to ensure that they receive formal recognition,” he said, addressing the gathering.Chouhan said agriculture extended beyond crop production to horticulture, fisheries, poultry farming and animal husbandry, with women playing an important role across these activities.He said he would raise the issue on appropriate platforms to ensure that women farmers received recognition and respect for their work.The Union Minister also said a pilot initiative would be launched in Raisen and Vidisha districts to connect every family in every village with at least one source of livelihood, to make villages poverty-free.He said the initiative would focus on developing sustainable income opportunities through agriculture, processing of farm produce, animal husbandry, goat rearing, fisheries and small businesses.“Poverty can be eradicated by connecting families with employment and income-generating opportunities,” Chouhan said, emphasising the need to create sustainable livelihood options rather than relying only on financial assistance.He urged women farmers to move beyond agricultural production and explore entrepreneurship through small-scale processing units and other rural enterprises.He suggested setting up pulse mills in areas where pulses are grown in large quantities, along with oil-processing units and facilities to manufacture products such as tomato ketchup.Chouhan said efforts would be made to provide women with training, machinery and technical assistance to help them establish such enterprises and increase their earnings by adding value to agricultural produce.He also stressed the need to improve women's access to finance, saying efforts would be made to facilitate loans requiring little or no collateral. Promoting women-led Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), providing technical support and ensuring access to agricultural schemes and procurement opportunities were among the areas requiring attention, he said.During the visit, Chouhan laid the foundation stones for 46 roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, aimed at improving rural connectivity. He said the roads would make travel easier for villagers and improve access to essential services, adding that construction quality must be maintained.The minister also said providing permanent houses to poor families remained a priority. He said 3,081 houses were sanctioned in the Sanchi Assembly constituency in 2025-26 and 5,035 in 2024-25.Another 218 houses were sanctioned under the PM JANMAN scheme and 246 under the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan. A recent survey identified the need for 22,477 additional houses in the constituency, he said, adding that efforts would be made to assist eligible families living in kutcha houses.