Women Empowerment in Dairying

Abstract

Women empowerment is denoted by how a woman increases her inner strength as well as builds her capacity to be self-reliant. In India, dairying is a considered to be a female dominated enterprise. Women have been known to play a pivotal role in agricultural field, especially in dairy field. Besides actively taking care of all the household chores, women have always participated in animal husbandry and dairy sectors. But women are yet to gain proper importance and recognition for their work despite being highly skilful and efficient. Training of women is very important for their better performance in dairy sector as well as increased adoption in dairy farm and industries. This is due to enhancement of knowledge and improvement of skill, which in turn brings a change in the attitude of women, especially of rural origin. The main psychological constraints faced by women include male dominance, lack of social contacts and multiple responsibilities. Lack of technical know-how is another technological hurdle commonly faced. Fortunately, in current years, awareness of their own potentialities, desire for an upgraded lifestyle for self and for their children, financial burden-these factors have proved to be a source of self-motivation for the women. However, formulation of appropriate extension strategies is always recommended to mobilize farm women for the purpose of enhancing technological adoption and realizing additional income generation. More focus should be given to providing proper education to women as well as making sure that they have smooth access to the resources.