Vol. 10, Special Issue 5 (2021)

Author(s):
Deepika Deswal, Subhash Chander and Vinod Kumari

Abstract:
India occupies the 67th position worldwide in terms of female-headed households. The concept of the head of household was related to economic well-being, power, authority, and decision-making process of the household. Although FHHs are confronting numerous economic vulnerabilities day by day, they had become a hidden phenomenon in our society. Agriculture and allied activities support livelihoods of nearly 58 per cent of India’s rural population. The study was conducted into two cultural zones namely Bagar from Hisar district and Nardak from Karnal of Haryana state. A total of 260 respondents were selected from the field of the study. This paper shows the role of female headed households in agricultural production in Haryana. Nearly three-fourth of the respondents (73.68%) weeded in all crops during both the seasons. Majority of the female heads worked generally in agricultural activities like harvesting, collecting produce at one place, loading it for transportation, storage and treating grains and seeds and in threshing also. Most of the female heads were helped by in-Laws, neighbours, friends and other kins in family disputes. It was concluded that female heads were managing all the agricultural affairs single handedly It was also suggested that female heads were not aware of agricultural development programme so it was necessary to provide them need based trainings to generate income.