SINGAPORE: The gender inequality in agriculture is here to stay for longer times if the trends of women participation at the 5th International Rice Congress, the data collected by international rice research institute(IRRI) and a survey conducted by multinational agriscience company in 17 countries across the world is any indication. Less than 200 women participated out of about 1400 delegates at the world congress held at Singapore from October 15 to 17.The participation of women in agriculture is miniscule in many countries which the agriculture expert groups and organisations feel need to be increased especially after the male farmers are heading towards urban centres from rural areas looking for other avenues of livelihood. It was felt at the international rice congress that participation of women is necessary to get the avocation of farming going."We are working hard to ensure women participation in agriculture and trying to provide level playing field to the women but despite that we see not a very encouraging picture as far as participation of women in agriculture is concerned. The women though get over one third participation in many countries in legislative institutions but not much in agriculture as they face a lot of problems in the completely male dominated agricultural sector across the world" said Ranjitha Puskur, who is theme leader 'Catalysing innovation for health, equity and resilience sustainable impact platform' at IRRI at Manila in Philippines. She said though sincere efforts are being made and some women are actually coming forward in supplementing family farm income yet it will take time when major participation comes to fore.In the meanwhile in a survey conducted by Corteva Agriscience, agriculture division of US based company DowDuPont, it came out that women participation is very less. The women face financial disparities, feel they are not acknowledged, heard or empowered to take decisions.Women in agriculture around the world, whether in developing or developed countries, say widespread gender discrimination persists and poses obstacles to their ability to help feed the world, according to the study.The study conducted in August-September 2018, in the 17 countries of 5 continents to know the importance of women in agriculture and to identify barriers to their full and successful participation was released on Tuesday to coincide with celebration of the International Day of rural women. The study was conducted on 4,160 respondents living in both the developed and developing countries with average age of respondents at 34 years. Most of the women were engaged in crop farming, with others engaged in a variety of other farming and related agricultural pursuits. The farms ranged from small subsistence farms to enterprises with more than 300 employees. Roles ranged from owners and managers to employees and workers.“We conducted this study to further understand the current status of women farmers around the world, from the largest farms in the most advanced economies to the smallest subsistence farms in the developing world and to create a baseline from which we can measure progress going forward,” said Krysta Harden, vice president external affairs and chief sustainability officer at Corteva Agriscience.The findings of the survey reveal that although women are overwhelmingly proud to be in agriculture, they perceive gender discrimination as widespread, ranging from 78 per cent in India to 52 per cent in the United States. Only half say they are equally successful as their male counterparts; 42 per cent say they have the same opportunities as their male counterparts, and only 38 per cent say they are empowered to make decisions about how income is used in farming and agriculture. Almost 40 per cent of the respondents reported lower income than men and less access to financing. High on the list of concerns were financial stability, the welfare of their families and achieving a working life balance.Many said they need more training to take advantage of the agricultural technology that has become essential for financial success and environmental stewardship. This desire for training emerged as the most commonly cited need among the respondents for removing gender inequality obstacles. The numbers significantly exceeded 50 per cent for all 17 countries, with Brazil , Nigeria, Kenya , Mexico and South Africa leading the way.Some of the women reported progress toward gender equality but 72 per cent said it would take around three decades or more to achieve full equality. Five key actions, according to the respondents were identified to remove obstacles to equality, more training in technology (cited by 80 per cent), more academic education (cited by 79 per cent), more support, legal and otherwise to help women in agriculture who experience gender discrimination (cited by 76 per cent), raise the public awareness of the success women are achieving in agriculture (cited by 75 per cent), raise the public awareness of gender discrimination in agriculture (cited by 74 per cent).“While we know women make up almost half of the world’s farmers, this study validates challenges continue to persist, holding back not only the women in agriculture but also the people who depend on them, their families, their communities, and the societies. Identifying the existence of these challenges is the first step in removing obstacles for rural women farmers to achieve their full potential,” said Harden.The survey spread across Asia Pacific (24 per cent), North America (21 per cent), Latin America (21 per cent), Europe (19 per cent) and Africa (15 per cent) and covered the nations such as China, India, Indonesia, Australia, US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina , France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa.