New Delhi, March 15 The agricultural research body, ICAR, announced on Sunday that it is developing a national platform to connect over 900 institutions, aiming to strengthen the role of women in farming. This initiative comes after an international conference adopted a declaration for a global alliance to boost their leadership across agricultural and food systems.
During the closing session of the Global Conference on Women in Agri-Food Systems (GCWAS-2026) on Saturday, the Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), ML Jat, stated that the platform would link ICAR institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and agricultural universities to strengthen research, extension, and capacity-building initiatives focused on women in agriculture.
The three-day conference, attended by delegates from 18 countries, concluded with the adoption of the Delhi Declaration, as stated in an official statement.
The declaration calls for establishing a Global Alliance on Women in Agri-Food Systems, and commits stakeholders to champion gender-responsive policies, ensure women's access to land, finance, technology, and digital innovation, promote women-led entrepreneurship, and establish accountability mechanisms, including periodic gender audits.
"Empowering women with knowledge, data, and decision-making roles can significantly enhance farm productivity, profitability, and sustainability," said Jat, emphasizing the need for stronger inter-institutional collaboration to translate the conference's deliberations into concrete outcomes.
Renu Swarup, former Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology, who presented the conference's key recommendations, also called for the systematic collection of gender-disaggregated data across agri-food value chains to support evidence-based policymaking.
RS Paroda, Chairman of TAAS, noted that women contribute between 60 and 70 per cent of agricultural labor globally, yet remain excluded from credit, markets, and decision-making.
"Empowering farm women must move beyond dialogue to decisive action," he said.
Trilochan Mohapatra, Chairman of PPV & FRA, highlighted a largely overlooked group – women who conserve plant genetic resources and traditional agricultural knowledge at the grassroots, calling for formal recognition and financial support for their contributions to biodiversity preservation.
The conference, inaugurated by President Droupadi Murmu on March 12, featured nine technical sessions covering topics ranging from disruptive technologies to climate resilience, and drew participation from international bodies including CIMMYT, WorldFish, and the Borlaug Foundation.