Constraints faced and suggestions given by the farm women of Marathwada Region

Rural women in India form a crucial part of the agricultural workforce, engaging in a wide range of farm and household activities. Despite their significant contributions, they often lack access to education, resources, and skill development opportunities. This highlights the need to enhance their knowledge, skills, and economic status through targeted training and capacity-building efforts. The present study aims to identify the constraints faced by farm women of Marathwada region in attending agricultural training programmes and to document the suggestions provided by them to improve the accessibility, relevance, and effectiveness of such training initiatives. The study was conducted in Parbhani and Manwath tehsils of Parbhani district, located in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra. An ex-post-facto research design was adopted. From the nine tehsils in the district, Parbhani and Manwath were purposively selected based on their agricultural engagement. A list of villages with high female participation in agriculture were selected using simple random sampling, resulting in a total sample size of 120 respondents. Data were collected through structured interviews using a pre-tested questionnaire. The major constraint faced by farm women in attending training was lack of time during peak agricultural seasons (80.83%), followed by family responsibilities limiting long-duration participation (75.83%). Illiteracy and lack of knowledge (75.00%) also emerged as significant barriers. Additionally, inadequate publicity of training programmes (65.00%) and limited outreach by extension workers (56.67%) were notable constraints. Suggestions given by farm women emphasize organizing training sessions locally (85%), using audiovisual aids (83.33%), and keeping trainings short in duration (81.67%) to address time constraints. They also recommend raising awareness about government programs, scheduling training before the agricultural season (80%), and increasing visits by extension workers (75%) to enhance support and accessibility. This study highlights key barriers faced by farm women in accessing training, including time constraints, family duties, illiteracy, and limited outreach. To address these, they advocate for locally held, brief, and audiovisual-supported sessions, improved awareness of government schemes, and greater extension worker involvement, particularly before peak agricultural seasons.