Highlights

1. The need for greater production in every field has resulted in industrialized and even automated processes leading to greater production even with lesser human employment. The manufacture of cloth from a Handloom cottage process into an industry to meet the ever growing demand and to reduce costs is an example of Industrialization. Hence, like for cloth, the need for increased agricultural production will have to come from industrialization of Agriculture with increased automation and lesser human employment. This is already evident. Closing our eyes to such a natural progression and trying to think that giving farmers greater sops and subsidies and loan waivers will solve the problem has, these past decades proved futile. We therefore need to look at alternate solutions.
2. Also, as the population has grown, from less than 30 Crores in 1947 to about 140 Crores today, the demand for Food Production has greatly increased. Such demand growth cannot be met by the old ways of farming especially as the land holding of each farmer has drastically reduced. Increase in agricultural production can only be met by industrializing / mechanizing Agricultural operations.
3. Agriculture is not remunerative enough for most farmers today. This leads to the majority of the youth from Farmer families emigrating to urban areas. also, in many extreme cases it leads to the rising incidence of farmer suicides, especially amongst the tenant farmers.
4. Giving subsidies to fertilizer Companies has led to over use of chemical / inorganic fertilizers, destruction of soil and water bodies and increased cost of farming.
5. We need a proper Action Plan, to not only make agriculture profitable, but also, revive the rural economy to allow it to have greater employment potential and also, to provide many of the urban amenities and non – farm business opportunities there itself, to prevent emigration to urban areas and keep families together. The plan must involve the villages, especially the women folk, give them a good job. (See-www.barefootcollege.org).

Quotations for Considerations

• “Everything else can wait but Agriculture” – Jawaharlal Nehru
• “Agriculture not only gives riches to a Nation, but the only riches she can call her OWN” – Dr. Samuel Johnson.
• “Whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together.” – Jonathan Swift.
• “Agricultural land will continue to be less and less important as an economic asset, relative to the total value of all other economic assets” – Julian Simon

Hence, a way must be found to enable it to also, become a valuable economic asset.

• “If you do the same thing, the same way, in similar circumstances, you will only get the same results. Seek to do things differently to get different and better results” – Anon.

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