International Women’s Day ’24 celebrations in Agra, Uttar Pradesh

Joins in the movement, #Invest in women: Accelerate Progress

CropLife India, an association of both Indian and Global R&D driven crop science organizations, and the leading voice of the plant science industry in India, has been celebrating the Women’s Day by an event – “Celebrating womanhood“, since many years.The objective of the celebrations has been to recognise the invaluable contribution of women farmers in agriculture and economic development. Training on safe and responsible usage of agrochemicals and identification of counterfeits were imparted; which are imminent for safe crop protection. The program included a Drone demonstration of crop protection products by IoTechWorld, working under the Shri Narendra Modi Government’s ‘NaMo Drone Didi Initiative’.

Drone Demonstration for Women Farmers, #DroneDidi

Commenting on the occasion, Dr. R.S. Chauhan, Head – KVK, Bichpuri, said, “The campaign theme for 2024 is “Inspire Inclusion” and the overarching theme is “Invest in women: Accelerate progress.” It emphasizes the importance of creating an inclusive society and investing in womens empowerment. We salute the spirit of womanhood as women are the real architects of society. Women have been contributing in multitude of activities of farming, which necessitates the knowledge transfer of crop protection technology. Moreover, as iterated in a proverb – if you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a nation.”

Around 250 women farmers participated from the nearby villages of Agra, viz. Shamshabad, Fatehabad, Bichpuri, Ghadi Gosain, Gaghpura, Narawar, etc. Uttar Pradesh. Dr. R.S. Chauhan, Head – KVK, Bichpuri presided the function. Prof. Beena Sharma, Mrs. Pooja Saxena, Mr. V.N. Jha, President, Prof. Mahesh Alok, Prof. Jaspal Singh, Prof. S. N. Sharma, Dr. R.S. Chauhan, Dr. Rakesh Kulshrestha, Mrs. Chandrakala, and Scientists from Krishi Vigyan Kendra were present during the occasion.

“CropLife India is calling on fellow food and agriculture stakeholders across India to #InspireInclusion and work towards women empowerment to achieve sustainable and equitable food systems and rural development”.

International Women’s day special program “Celebrating womanhood” provided a platform to these women farmers where they were felicitated for their hard work & achievements in agriculture. From seed sowing to harvesting, women are part of almost all activities, yet sadly their access to resources is less compared to the male farmers. The event focused on inspiring these women to produce safe & healthy crops by using genuine crop protection products, detecting Counterfeit, Spurious, Substandard and Unregistered/Unlicensed agrochemicals. Women shared their achievements, experiences & challenges faced on the field as farmers.

Womens day celebrations by CropLife India

The program conducted with various activities like mushroom processing, kitchen garden activities, food processing, waste management, integrated pest management & cultural performances by women to motivate, educate and make them aware about their own potential and abilities.

About CropLife India

CropLife India, is a leading industry association of both Indian and global R&D driven crop science organizations. CropLife India jointly represents around 70% of the Indian crop protection market and are responsible for 95% of the molecules introduced in the country. Our member companies have an annual global R&D spend of over US $ 6 billion.

Our member companies continue to work hand-in-hand with the Government to build the agriculture sector – from introduction of several newer and safer molecules, direct investment of building factories, jobs creation, bringing in agriculture innovation and working endlessly over the years with multi-stakeholders to enhance agriculture productivity. All member companies are firmly committed to engage with the farming community to enable Safe, Secure and Sustainable Food Supply.

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Written by Saurabh Tamhane

Saurabh Tamhane is the founder and editorial head of Sejal News Network. With over 5 years of experience in digital journalism and storytelling, he covers politics, technology, and startup culture with a sharp analytical eye. <strong>Expertise:</strong> Investigative Journalism, Startup News, Public Policy