海角大神

As protests against agricultural reforms catch global attention, India鈥檚 neglected women farmers are seizing the moment to dust off their own long-standing demands 鈥� from land rights and farm credit to grains subsidies.

Hundreds of miles from the sit-in demonstrations near the capital, Ponnuthai said the protests were helping her and other women farmers gain recognition, spurring her local collective to draft new petitions for demands first made decades ago.

鈥淭he protests in Delhi have given us our identity as women farmers,鈥� Ms. Ponnuthai, who goes by one name, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from her home in southern Tamil Nadu state.

鈥淣ow they see us and our contribution on the fields, we are voicing our demands even louder, hoping they will hear us, too.鈥�

About 75% of rural women in India who work full-time are farmers, the charity Oxfam says, with numbers rising as men migrate from the countryside to work in factories and construction sites in the cities.

But farming is still widely seen as men鈥檚 work and only 13% of women own the land they cultivate, making it more difficult for them to access government grants and bank loans, and take part in collective negotiations, women farmers鈥� leaders said.

The protests in Delhi have given a forum for women growers to press their particular demands, and many have traveled to join the tens of thousands of angry farmers camping out on main highways near the capital for more than two months.

They want the withdrawal of farm laws passed in September, which they say benefit private buyers at their expense. The government says the reforms will make the sector more efficient and help growers.

Hira Rautela, a farmer from northern Uttarakhand state who has taken part in the demonstrations, said she had spent as much time as possible talking to the farmers about what their overlooked female counterparts wanted.

鈥淭he farm laws are one issue but we also tell the protesters that while men may drive tractors, it is women who sow the seeds,鈥� she said in a phone interview.

鈥楴ow they are listening鈥�

Women farmers have long complained about their particular difficulties in accessing wholesale markets, securing credit aimed at agriculture, and gaining inclusion in government subsidy and aid programs.

At Ponnuthai鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Collective in Tamil Nadu, members used to be 鈥渟hooed away鈥� from monthly farmers鈥� grievance meetings and told it was no a place for women, said K. Jothi from Madurai, who has been working her land for 10 years.

鈥淲e were initially never allowed to speak and are only now finding our voices,鈥� she said, adding that the national protests had helped them get the attention of state farming authorities.

鈥淲e have been demanding that land under government control be given to us to cultivate. Now they are listening,鈥� she said.

Buoyed up by the protests in Delhi, members of another group representing women growers, MAKAAM, or Forum For Women Farmers鈥� Rights, have adopted the slogan 鈥淭his time, our rights鈥� as they campaign and lobby officials.

鈥淲e hope the ongoing protests give an impetus to women who besides recognition are also pushing for sustainable farming,鈥� said Sheela Kulkarni, a member of the forum.

鈥淭he women have been persistent in their demands, discussing it in village council meetings, with officials and protesting on the streets. It is a question of striking when the iron is hot and now is that time.鈥�

Khatijaben Khirai, a mother of five, is waiting for paperwork to come through that will give her joint ownership of land with her husband in western Gujarat state.

She traveled two days by bus to support the farmers in Delhi and said she felt optimistic after the journey.

鈥淎s we sang, chanted slogans and found men farmers listening in, it re-energized us to continue our own protests till our demands are met,鈥� she said.

This story was reported by The Thomson Reuters Foundation.