Major changes in the technology and economic organisation of Indian agriculture have had far-reaching effects on other aspects of social life. A critical area of neglected research has been the effect that the changing technology and accompanying social relations of production have had on women's role in agricultural production and on gender relations. Research carried out in a village in North India concretises general statistical trends affecting the lives of Indian women under capitalist development. Female participation in production activities mirrors their caste and class positions. Differential participation directly affects, and is intimately related to, other aspects of women's lives. The article also discusses some of the major contradictions for women's status stemming from the transformation of agrarian relations.