FARM WOMEN FACING THE CHALLENGES OF COVID-19 IN ODISHA

SABITA MISHRA¹*, ANIL KUMAR^2
1ICAR-Central Institute for Women in Agriculture, Bhubaneswar, 751003, Odisha, India
²ICAR-Central Institute for Women in Agriculture, Bhubaneswar, 751003, Odisha, India
* Corresponding Author : sabitamshra@rediffmail.com

Received : 01-02-2021     Accepted : 26-02-2021     Published : 28-02-2021
Volume : 13     Issue : 2       Pages : 10647 - 10650
Int J Agr Sci 13.2 (2021):10647-10650

Keywords : Farm Women, Corona pandemic, Livelihood
Academic Editor : Ammayappan L., Dr Veena Sharma, Nadia Haider, Kishor Dhanpal Gharde
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Authors are thankful to the farm women who shared their ordeal with us to assess the impact of Covid-19 pandemic in rural areas. Authors are also thankful to ICAR-Central Institute for Women in Agriculture, Bhubaneswar, 751003, Odisha, India
Author Contribution : All authors equally contributed

The Corona pandemic ravaging the world has severely impacted most of the persons and the wage earners are the worst affected ones being deprived of the work and income. The loss of work and consequently drying of income source has also adversely affected their household food supply. The farm women in the rural areas who are heavily dependent on wage earning are also bearing the brunt of this unforeseen disaster, devastating the livelihood of millions of people. The large influx of menfolk returning to villages because of loss of work in urban areas have further aggravated the employment situation of farm women in the rural area by taking up the farm job usually carried out by womenfolk. The women farmers now face enormous challenges in their day to day life. The loss of employment and drying up of income source has resulted in reduced food consumption and deferring health care of the family members. The present study was undertaken to understand the problems being faced by the farm women during corona pandemic. The farm women from eight districts of Odisha were contacted over telephone and their responses were analyzed as case studies covering the issues of health, employment, agriculture, self help group activities, education, food and nutrition and socio-psychological issues faced by them during the lockdown. Further, the collected information was cross checked with the community key persons as well as KVK officials in the district