Archives of Current Research International

India, which accounts for around 25 per cent of the world's milk output, heavily relies on rural women to run dairy farms, yet there are a number of obstacles that limit their involvement. The present study was undertaken in Hisar district of Haryana to assess the challenges faced by rural women engaged in dairy farming. A total of 120 respondents were selected from four villages across Hisar-I and Hisar-II blocks. A structured interview schedule was used to gather the data and descriptive statistics were used for analysis. The study revealed that the majority of middle-aged, married, marginal landholder rural women who work in dairy farming in both blocks reside in pucca houses with medium-sized family. The main source of income is dairy farming, which is occasionally augmented by small-scale self-employment or service work. Hisar-II has tighter integration with formal marketing channels and marginally higher milk production levels, whereas Hisar-I is more reliant on direct milk sales to local consumers. Hisar-II has a more robust veterinary infrastructure than Hisar-I. Results regarding challenges revealed that financial issues were the most significant challenge faced by dairy farm rural women, reported by 83.33 per cent of respondents in Hisar-I block and 90.00 per cent in Hisar-II block, highlighting their continued economic vulnerability. In both blocks, more than three-fourths of respondents experienced time constraints as a result of their dual duties, which is indicative of gendered workload demands. Further highlighting structural and sociocultural limitations were feed scarcity (58.33% in Hisar-I block and 48.33% in Hisar-II block) and limited decision-making authority (41.67% in Hisar-I block and 43.33% in Hisar-II block). The findings suggest the need for gender-responsive financial access, strengthened extension outreach and localized institutional support to enhance sustainable dairy livelihoods.