Abstract

Women’s participation in the agricultural labour force (38.87 and 55.67%) in India and the State of Andhra Pradesh, India (Census of India, 2001) plays a distinctive role in earning a livelihood for the family. The objective of the study was to examine the pattern of women work force in agricultural activities in Andhra Pradesh (AP), India and is based on secondary data taken from the census of 2001 and 2011 and primary survey undertaken in six selected districts of Andhra Pradesh. The proportion of women agricultural labour is more than male labour in all the districts. With respect to gender gap, the participation gap has been narrowed but remuneration and advancement gap between male and female workers still exists. The OLS regression was employed to estimate the various factors which affect the female work force participation in Andhra Pradesh. At the district level a high inter district variation has been observed for the work force participation for men and women. With the emerging commercialization of agriculture and introduction of new technologies, capacity building of women workforce is important for achieving sustainable agricultural growth and improving the rural livelihood security.

Key words: Women’s participation, agricultural labour, gender gap, livelihood security.