The Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur (MPUAT) initiates a project entitled “Mitigating Hardship of Indian Women Farmers through Technology Intervention”.

The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. S.S. Chahal informed that the project has been funded by John Deere Foundation of US for a period of two years with a financial outlay of Rs.63 lakhs.

The objective of the project is to empower women technologically to reduce their hardship/drudgery in agriculture and animal husbandry. John Deere was founded in 1837, it’s a company dedicated to those linked to the land. The goal of Foundation is to eliminate world hunger.

John Deere Foundation supports agricultural development for sustainable food supplies and economic growth in underdeveloped countries. John Deere reaches out across the world with factories, offices and other facilities in more than 30 countries. MPUAT is the first Agricultural University to sign an MOU with John Deere Foundation, an international agency committed to Agriculture upliftment.

The farm women lead difficult lives and spend maximum time in arduous works in farms and homestead activities. Studies have pointed out that farm activities which are time and labor intensive, monotonous, repetitive and more drudgery prone are generally performed by women.

Since, all these operations are done manually they cause considerable physical and mental fatigue and other health problems. The root cause of the suffering of farm women is ignorance, age- old methods of doing work, inappropriateness of technology and attitudinal constraints such as innate conservatism and resistance to change. Gender bias approach to technology transfer system is also blocking the road to progress and prosperity of women in our country.

The research project has been envisaged for technological empowerment of women through   education, training and technological intervention using participatory approach involving self-help women groups, informed Prof. S.R. Maloo, Director Research.

The project will be implemented in select villages of Railmagra Panchayat Samiti of Rajsamand Distt. in Rajasthan. The partner NGO for implementing the activities of project in the project area is JATAN SANSTHAN, Railmagra, Rajsamand.

The launching of the project in Rajsamand district will be done on June, 12, 2011

The principal Investigator of the project is Dr. Suman Singh, Senior Scientist, College of Home Science who is recipient of Liberty Mutual Medal, an International Award given by “International Ergonomics Association”. She reports that under the project, a Technology Resource Center (TRC) would be established and developed as a single stop for implement hiring, information dissemination, awareness building and consultation center for farmers on agriculture practices.

The services provided by TRC will be on chargeable basis for which the amount would be decided by farm women themselves. The revenue generated from these services would sustain the manpower and functioning of TRC after the project period. The co- principal investigators of the project are Dr. Hemu Rathore and Dr. Driti Solonki.