UPSC Mains 2014 GS Paper 1 Q14: model answer
Discuss the various economic and socio-cultural forces that are driving the increasing feminization of agriculture in India.
What the question wants
Discuss the economic and socio-cultural forces behind the rising share of women in Indian agriculture.
How to structure it
Discuss both kinds of forces, then the implications.
- What feminisation means
- Economic forces
- Socio-cultural forces
- Implications and remedies
How to think it through
Men migrate to cities; women keep the farm running. That's feminisation in one sentence. But note the irony: women do more farm work but own very little land. Show forces in two columns, then end with the ownership gap.
Model answer
Women hold only about 14 per cent of operational holdings (Agriculture Census 2015–16), yet the Economic Survey 2017–18 described farming as steadily feminising.
Economic forces
- Male out-migration to cities and other states for better-paid work.
- Low farm incomes push men to non-farm jobs; women remain in low-paid farm work.
- Growth of labour-intensive crops and allied activities (dairy, poultry) handled by women.
- Distress in agriculture and indebtedness.
Socio-cultural forces
- Restrictions on women's mobility keep them in village-based work.
- Farm work is seen as an extension of household duties.
- Lack of skills and education limits women's access to other jobs.
Implications
- Women do much of the work but own a small share of land, limiting access to credit, insurance and schemes.
- Heavy workload with care responsibilities; health effects.
Remedies
- Joint or individual land titles; recognition as farmers; Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana; women-friendly tools; SHGs and FPOs.
Feminisation reflects both opportunity and distress. Recognising women as farmers with rights is key to making it empowering.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Male out-migration, women's land ownership gap, MKSP, SHGs, FPOs, 15 October National Women Farmers' Day.
Where most answers lose marks
- Treating feminisation as automatically empowering.
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17 May 2026Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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