Delhi Conference Seeks Recognition for Women Farmers in Decision-Making

Around 5,000 women farmers and office-bearers from across India participated in the All India Women Farmers’ Workers Conference at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi, on 30 September 2026. Organised by the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, the conference took place during the UN-declared International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026. Its main themes were women’s recognition as farmers, participation in agricultural decision-making, access to credit, local processing, markets, sustainable farming and remunerative prices.

Government background material released in 2026 stated that about 80% of rural women in India are engaged in agriculture and allied sectors; about 33% work as agricultural labourers and 48% as self-employed farmers. The conference highlighted the mismatch between women’s actual work in crop production, livestock, post-harvest handling, processing and household nutrition and the way they are often recorded as family helpers or agricultural labourers rather than farmers. Speakers called for women to have a stronger role in policy and programme decisions affecting farming systems, technologies, markets and sustainability.

The event also discussed toxin-free or low-chemical farming, nutritious food, health, addiction-free communities and prices for farm produce. The conference did not itself create legal rights, but it placed farmer identity, credit access and decision-making representation on a national platform. Measurable progress will depend on women’s access to Farmer IDs, credit, insurance, extension services, producer organisations, processing units and agricultural committees.

The significance of the Delhi gathering is therefore institutional, not merely symbolic. It creates a visible national constituency demanding that women be counted in agricultural systems as producers, entrepreneurs, managers of livestock and seed, and decision-makers in farm policy rather than only as labour support.

Original source references: Times of India/PTI, 2 October 2026; Economic Times, 30 September 2026; PIB, 23 March 2026; FAO/UN.

Rural Development Today | 2 October 2026 | Development Connects | Kallol Saha