My Nana (Maternal grandfather) was a passionate and successful farmer. Even when he was seriously ill and doctors gave up, he came back to his village and grew vegetables just behind his house as he could not walk to the farms area. He found extreme happiness in farming. He would sow, manage and harvest crops on his own. Evenings he would take care of his large fleet of cows and buffaloes. I remember way back in 1990s when I was a kid, I used to stay at my Nanas place for months. Being one of the most successful farmer in his village, he could spare enough of food grains even after distributing considerable amount of crop share to his daughters, keeping some reserve for consumption and loaning some to the needy...the spared reserve of food-grains were used as money. Wheat was the cheapest so if I needed to buy candies I would use 2 handful of wheat-grains, pigeon pea (arhar) was considered a bit pricey, so to buy household items arhar was used, to buy clothes something else. Barber, Maid, Washerman and even priests and doctors were paid by food-grains. Washerman and Priest families had traditional tie ups so they were given a a part of the farm itself where they can grow crops by themselves. People shared work, profits and did not compare or compete. Everyone seemed to be happy. Grains were like money for it bought everything that was needed but unlike the money that we know of now, grains gave more happiness and less stress. There was more than enough to feed the family and support other poor families in the village as well. Somehow now I realize that, that particular economy was more sustainable, it took care of many issues that we have right now. It was collaborative and not competitive. Lets see the same farm-system in the present condition. My Nana expired in the year 2002 and now farm is owned by my Mama (Maternal uncle), But he has migrated to a metro city because he needs cash. There is no one to farm the land the way my Nana did, the crop produce has fallen down, the cost of agriculture has increased, the margin of profit is very low, it is difficult to get manpower as people prefer instant money and in-spite of dearth of Jobs nobody wants to work hard...are we creating a unsustainable India? Are we promoting agriculture? Are we ignoring the fact that we are Agriculture economy? Are we investing enough in Agriculture education and promotion? ... The sadness prevails here too
Posted on: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 18:34:58 +0000
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