Ramlal also called on Centre and state governments to frame policies specifically around the needs of women farmers, adding that the latter should be given easier access to credit, local processing facilities and markets for organic produce.Highlighting the role they play in the rural economy, RSS leader Ramlal said on Wednesday that women farmers should be placed at the centre of agricultural policymaking.“Women farmers must be placed at the forefront of decision-making when we talk about sustainable agriculture and a prosperous rural economy,” he said, following the conclusion of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh’s (BKS) first national conference of women farmers in Delhi.Ramlal highlighted that women have traditionally played a major role in Indian agriculture – from sowing and harvesting to seed preservation and livestock rearing – but were often identified in government records and social structures only as agricultural labourers or family helpers.“Women undertake nearly 60 to 70 per cent of the physical labour associated with agriculture. Despite this, they have often been viewed in the social structure and government records merely as ‘agricultural labourers’ or as family helpers,” he said.“They must be given legal and social recognition not merely as a workforce labouring on the land, but as farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs capable of making independent decisions with self-reliance and discernment,” Ramlal stressed.The RSS leader, who serves as the organisation’s All-India Sampark Pramukh, described the BKS conference, organised against the backdrop of the UN-declared International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026, as one aimed at securing greater identity and recognition for women farmers.He called it “a manifestation of the empowerment of women in Indian agriculture and a new call for restructuring agricultural policies”.Story continues below this adRamlal also called on Centre and state governments to frame policies specifically around the needs of women farmers, adding that the latter should be given easier access to credit, local processing facilities and markets for organic produce.“The ground reality is that the success of rural development lies in the hands of women’s power,” he said.The All India Women Farmers’ Workers Conclave, organised by the BKS, was attended by around 5,000 women farmers and office-bearers from across the country. Among the issues discussed were traditional farming practices, Gau-Krishi-Vanijyam (cattle, agriculture and commerce), and the role of agriculture in achieving a developed India by 2047.