A Virtual Brainstorming Workshop on Identification of New Dimensions for Preparing National/Global Level Database on Women in Agriculture was organized by ICAR- Central Institute for Women in Agriculture, Bhubaneswar on 28 August, 2020. Dr. R. C. Agrawal, DDG (Agri. Edn.), ICAR in his key note address, highlighted the fact that women in India have a larger stake in agriculture and at the same time, they face numerous gender based constraints. Generation and dissemination of reliable gender disaggregated data in key areas of their socio-economic involvement are critical for effective planning of gender based policies. Dr. S. K. Srivastava, Director, ICAR-CIWA in his introductory remarks stressed that in a data driven society, the key to planning for optimal use of resources is the quality of data available.

With large number of rural women taking up agriculture in a big way, there is a need to understand the bottlenecks which prevents the human potential of women in expressing themselves in the process of nation building through agricultural enterprise. Data on women in agriculture is available in a scattered manner with multiple sources which need to be collected and collated for making enabling policies for the rural women. In this context, this Brainstorming Workshop was organized with the focal points; identification of new dimensions for preparing a National/Global level database on women in agriculture, finalization of Gender Factsheet conceptualized and developed at ICAR-CIWA and finalization of Gender Database Questionnaire/methodology for collection of primary data on sectoral contributions of women in agriculture.

Dr. Vinita Sharma, Former Chairperson, RAC, ICAR-CIWA and Dr. P. K. Agrawal, Vice Chancellor, OUAT chaired the technical sessions in which Eminent Experts from National and International research organizations including CGIAR institutions (ICRISAT-India, Nairobi and Mali), CIP (Vietnam), and Directors of ATARI participated as panellists and offered valuable inputs for identifying new dimensions for the gender data base. More than 70 participants including the Scientists and Technical Staff of ICAR-CIWA and AICRP on Women in Agriculture participated in the Workshop. Dr. Ananta Sarkar, Dr. Anil Kumar and Dr. J. Charles Jeeva from ICAR-CIWA organized the programme. The workshop was also live streamed through YouTube platform (https://youtu.be/iH1aKo3AKWY).