J. M. SinghRoy, Pritam2023-07-142023-07-142022Roy, Pritam (2022). Women labour participation in major vegetables cultivation in Punjab (Unpublished M.Sc. thesis). Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810198220Women's contributions to agriculture have been neglected and under valued. Very few scientific ventures have been made in our economy to examine the actual participation of female labour in vegetable crop production. The study was conducted with specific objectives to know the input-output pattern in major vegetables grown with an emphasis on women labour participation, to compare the remuneration received by both male and female labour and to bring out the problems encountered by them and recommendation of suitable policy measures. By keeping into account the most recent area under vegetables; potato, pea and cauliflower being major vegetable crops, were selected for the study. The study was carried out in selected blocks of Jalandhar, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur districts with a sample size of 30 vegetable growers and 20 female labours for each crop, thereby making a sample of 150 respondents. According to the study's findings, female labours participate in selective operations like; harvesting and grading during potato cultivation and constitute only 23.24 per cent out of total labour used, in pea cultivation female labours participate during picking and hoeing operation and constitute 31.64 per cent of the total labour used and during cauliflower cultivation, female labours participate in transplanting, earthing up and harvesting operations and constitute 46.22 per cent of total labour used. The study also find that daily wage difference prevails between male and female labour, even the contractual wage rate is also low for female labour compared to male labour. Most of the female respondents suffered because of the seasonality of agriculture labour (91.67%) followed by dissatisfaction with the wage received (88.33%) and not having any ownership right of resources, especially land (85%). According to the study's findings, it is recommended that awareness should be created through proper extension services to men who are cultivators and be made aware of the value of women's labour in agriculture and provide them with fair financial recompense. Also suitable policy measures should be made to give female labours land rights for their empowerment and to increase the enrollment and completion rates in education, across all levels.EnglishThesis