Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

Mainstreaming Gender in Agricultural Research and Extension 229
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Mainstreaming Gender in Agricultural
Research and Extension
How Do We Move beyond
Efficiency Arguments?
Meghana Kelkar
INTRODUCTION
Social research on agricultural technologies, especially in the context of
the Green Revolution, has pointed to the socially biased outcomes favouring
certain groups and locations in society. The literature pertaining to
women and technological change in agriculture suggests that the Green
Revolution package not only had a class bias but also a gender bias, reinforcing
women’s subordinate positions both in the household and wider
society. This raises the issue of critiquing the gender sensitivity of the
formal agricultural network in India. In this chapter, I try to present an
analysis based on my three-fold experience, first as an alumni of one of
the agricultural universities in India, second as a Class I officer at the
Department of Agriculture, Maharashtra, and third as a Ph.D. research
scholar working on similar issues. My observations are largely in the context
of the agricultural network in the state of Maharashtra, which reflects
the national picture on a smaller scale.
First, I summarise the functioning of the formal agricultural network,
including a brief historical account and details regarding the three-fold
functions of research, extension and education. Then, I review the gender
mainstreaming efforts in the agricultural network in Maharashtra. I find
that the current approach of mainstreaming, which is largely based on
efficiency arguments, is perhaps strategic pragmatism and is a welcome