Greetings to all Farmers

The country celebrated 'Farmer's day' yesterday. 

When I was a child, I looked forward to ploughing the field, transplanting paddy, harvesting cashew nuts and nut megs, milking the cows, etc. Almost every child helped his or her parents in farming, as most of the rural economy then was agrarian and most household had a plots to farm.

In the last three decades, farming has become expensive, unaffordable and has pushed farmers into debt trap. With the cycle of drought and flooding, the farming has become even more difficult.

With urbanisation, and manufacturing of products becoming more cost effective, farmers either sell their land or do not farm the land. The real estate boom is an attraction for the farmers to encash their property.

But I want to greet small farmers,  with this bunch flowers, who still till the land for pleasure and need. They illustrate through that act, that we can do our part to be self-reliant. That is a needed message for families who keep their land idle because of the stressful demands of sowing and harvesting. 

Farmers who live and farm in villages are more susceptible to pressures of circumstances. Sometimes they give up after a while when there are too many hurdles and they do not want to prolong the agony.  

What inspires me most is the new impetus for co-operative land movement in India. People who own land are looking at the prospects of owning land collectively as a community, thereby reducing the overhead expenses and sharing profits. Some farmers are using the farms for double crops. The rubber estates, coconut groves, teak wood plantations are also being used to grow pineapple, vegetables, team coffee, which have been fairly successful. A neighbour has told me that the pine apple cultivation in his coconut grove has yielded double profit during the last three years. Many farmers are growing vegetables, although marketing is difficult sometimes. More  farm land is used for growing banana, mango and cashew nut, etc.instead of traditional paddy cultivation. 

Well done farmers, you are becoming innovative and entrepreneurial. You are investing into your future. You are changing with changing times.

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)