Filling the Rice Bowl: Women in Paddy Cultivation Book

Women have always worked, but their work has, till recently remained unrecognised, unacknowledged and frequently unpaid. And women have always done agricultural work. Rice cultivation is an interesting example of women's role in agriculture. Indispensable to several operations, women's work in this field was nevertheless largely undocumented. Unlike the case of wheat, there has not been here the same massive displacement of female labour with the introduction of mechanisation and the mixed blessings of 'modernisation' and planned development. Yet, though they are integral to rice cultivation, women's work is even now barely acknowledged in the categories of the census and NSS collection. This book documents in detail women's work in rice cultivation, both in the fields and in support work (processing, supervision), redefines concepts, like 'work' 'agricultural work' 'household' etc. and sets out in an appendix possible measures to ameliorate the lot of the women. The author's profiles of some of the women, bring out the ways in which they manage their many chores in the face of tremendous odds, with a courage and dignity that light up their otherwise difficult lives.