DEHRADUN: While Uttarakhand celebrates first Harela-Ghee festival to promote greenery and enhance agriculture in the state, the condition of women farmers still remain worrisome. Most of the farmers in the uphill told TOI that they plan to quit farming as it is no more a profitable venture. They say that difficulty in commuting, dearth of proper marketing facility and danger from wild animals have acted as catalysts to force them towards other sources of income.
The economy of rural Uttarakhand is primarily handled by women. According to a research by Kumaon university, women in the state devote as much as 62.17 per cent of their time for outdoor activities, out of which majority of the time is consumed in agriculture and livestock management.
"Through social organizations such as Dhadh and others, we get to know about various schemes which primarily focus on women. However, none of the programmes focus on ‘female farmers’, who are the backbone of Uttarakhand’s economy. State government should craft a female farmer policy to uplift them and help in retaining our culture," 42-year-old Bisakhi Devi from Ukhimath said.
The farmers were here on Saturday during the launch of Harela fest by agriculture department.
A latest report of ASSOCHAM on Uttarakhand’s agriculture also recorded a poor compound annual growth rate of three per cent between 2004-05 and 2014-15. Though, they attributed it to mainly sandy soil.
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