FinMin report Highlights Female Participation in Agri Sector

By: WE Staff | Tuesday, 30 January 2024

The Finance Ministry published a report titled "The Indian Economy: A Review." The report highlights that due to the strength of its financial sector and other recent and upcoming structural reforms, the Indian economy is predicted to develop at a rate above 7 per cent in the upcoming years. According to the report, India's economy can aim to reach $7 trillion by 2030.

The female labor force participation rate (FLFPR) in India has been increasing for at least six years, moving from 23.3 per cent in 2017–18 to 37 per cent in 2022–2023 according to the study. The FLFPR in urban areas increased to 25.4 per cent from 20.4 per cent, while in rural regions, it rose to 41.5 per cent from 24.6 per cent in 2017-18. The report further highlights how women's participation in the workforce has increased recently due to their increased presence in agriculture and their increased entrepreneurship in rural India that is a rise in rural female employment, particularly in the own account worker/employer from 19 per cent to 27.9 per cent and unpaid assistance categories from 38.7 per cent to 43.1 per cent.

The report shows a shift in the male workforce's focus from agriculture to non-agriculture, with women in rural areas increasing their share of agriculture to 76.2 per cent in 2022-23 from 73.2 per cent in 2017-18, while the male workforce's share has declined to 49.1 per cent from 55 per cent in the respective time.

The report further shows a structural shift in rural female workforce, with skilled agriculture labor increasing from 48 per cent in 2018-19 to 59.4 per cent in 2022-23 and a decline in elementary agriculture laborers using considerable physical effort from 23.4 per cent to 16.6 per cent in the respective time.

Feminization in agriculture drives expansion among skilled female workers, filling gaps and contributing to family income. This structural shift efficiently utilizes female labor, making female participation in rural India productive and remunerative, the report added.