ICAR to build national gender platform for women in farming
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research plans a national gender platform linking more than 900 institutions to strengthen women’s participation in farming, improve access to resources, and move gender commitments in agri-food systems into formal policy action.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research said it is building a national gender platform that will connect more than 900 institutions, including ICAR institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and agricultural universities. The announcement came at the closing session of the Global Conference on Women in Agri-Food Systems 2026 in Delhi. ICAR director general M. L. Jat said the platform is intended to strengthen research, extension and capacity-building work focused on women in agriculture.
The three-day conference, attended by delegates from 18 countries, ended with the Delhi Declaration, which calls for a Global Alliance on Women in Agri-Food Systems. The declaration backs gender-responsive policies, better access for women to land, finance, technology and digital innovation, support for women-led entrepreneurship, and periodic gender audits. Former Department of Biotechnology secretary Renu Swarup also called for systematic collection of gender-disaggregated data across agri-food value chains, while TAAS chairman R. S. Paroda said women contribute 60-70% of global agricultural labour but remain excluded from credit, markets and decision-making.
The move matters because it turns the debate over women’s role in farming into an institutional agenda rather than a one-off conference theme. ICAR explicitly linked women’s knowledge, data access and decision-making power with higher farm productivity, profitability and sustainability. The event, inaugurated by President Droupadi Murmu on March 12, included nine technical sessions and participation from organisations such as CIMMYT, WorldFish and the Borlaug Foundation, giving the platform a wider international policy context.