Women work at a paddy field at the village of Bamundangi, eastern Nepal. Photograph: Dipendu Dutta/AFP/Getty

Click the image above for the story about how life is changing in Nepal’s paddy:

Most of Nepal‘s agriculture is undertaken by women, but research tailored to their needs is lacking. “We need new technologies that can reduce the drudgery for them,” said Devendra Gauchan, agricultural economist and chief of the socioeconomics and agri-research policy division at the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (Narc).

Agriculture supports the livelihood of more than 60% of the rural population in Nepal, but most farmers, regardless of gender, stick to the manual practices that have been common for centuries, and seldom use mechanical equipment.

Women have traditionally been involved in agriculture, but the scale and range of their responsibilities has increased. “Feminisation has been rapidly enhanced in recent years due to the massive migration … from rural areas, mostly of men,” said Gauchan.