India had been proud of its rich agricultural background from the time of the Indus Valley civilization. Initially, the entire world was under the mercy of farmers who knew the technology of cultivation. Mostly barter system was prevalent in those days. An exchange of farm produce with other products like oil, vessels, and clothes like essentials was in practice. Slowly the world evolved with modern technologies making other industries come to the front than the agricultural industry. The luxuries took over Basic necessities. Automobile industries, cosmetic industries, and IT industries grew like a giant, whereas the poor original agricultural industry went to the background because of nature’s fury and people’s attitudes.

In India, we welcome all countries to invest in various industries, and some countries have their factory here. That is really good. Giving jobs to the locals can improve the economy of the locale. I am totally not against it. But are we treating the farmers on par with them? These foreign companies as well as the Indian companies have the right to fix the price of their product. For example, if a water company decides to sell its water bottle @Rs. 75/ then it’s at its liberty to do so. But a farmer who labors in his land, fighting the natural calamities could not fix the rate of his/her farm produce. I am not talking about the landlords having acres and acres of land. But about the small and micro farmers who depend totally on that income. How will they manage to maintain their family?

Now the price of vegetables is skyrocketing. There is a huge cry over this. Well! It is an issue. But what I want to ask is, whether the hiked price money really goes to the farmer? The answer is a Big NO! The price hike, the decrease in supply, everything is caused by the agents or the Dalals. Because of the lack of huge storage stations, and since our far produce like vegetables are not suitable for cold storage, farmers are compelled to sell their produce immediately after the harvest. Take for example tomato and brinjal (eggplant in the USA). The difficulty they face while cultivating is a story of woe.

First the climate, there should not be excess rain, no excess Sun should affect the crop, insects damage should not be there, and many many more. After all these criteria are met and the vegetable is ready for harvest, then comes the real problem of labor. Due to heavy urbanization, every village in India is facing a lack of agricultural laborers. Those who are well-educated easily say “Why do you need manpower? Replace it with machines.” Yes! That is quite true. For tilling, seeding we can use machines. For crops like rice and Gehu, we can even use machines for harvesting too. But for weeding, and plucking the vegetables no machines have been invented. Even if they try, it has to be an AI robot.

Now, Brinjal and tomato are ready for harvest, but getting laborers is a problem. The plants are grown on the earth, and so they have to bend and pick. This involves a lot of physical labor. Ok, somehow a micro farmer manages to pluck his brinjal and tomato. Where could he store them? Exposure to Sun and rain is definitely going to damage the veggies. Even if they store it in their houses, it may be for not more than 2 or 3 days. Again, the labor of carrying them to their houses is a big task. To avoid all these the farmers, prefer to sell it on the field itself. The Agents take advantage of this and purchase the veggies at a throwaway price.

In the market, if the brinjal costs Rs.25/kilo, the farmer gets only Rs 2/kilo. Can you believe this? This is not happening here and there. This is the practice adopted all over India. What have we done about this? What the government has done about this? Nothing! That is why, the suicides by farmers are very common here.

A car industry or even a spare parts industry flourishes as the years go by. Because they fix the rate for each and every nut and bolt, they make. But in agriculture, the farmers are under the mercy of agents and their kin men. We have many learned and intelligent people to advise the PM on various issues. Why no one is ready to offer a good solution for avoiding the middlemen in the agricultural industry?

If we seek the answer, it is very alarming. The middlemen are very powerful both monetarily and politically. If a policy is taken by the government that all the farm produce will be bought by the local government body for the price the farmers fix and then sold directly to people, there will be riots all over the country. Because without putting in any big effort, without laboring on the field, without facing the wraths of climate change, the middlemen mint crores of money through the agricultural industry.

As long as the price of vegetables are moderate, the citizens of India have many more things to worry about like the third marriage of an actor, or the divorce of any heroine, and many more. Only when the prices go high, the public wakes up to the situation, make a huge fuss and abuse the parties whoever are in power. But all these are only temporary. We need a permanent feasible solution beneficial to both the public and the farmers. If we optimize the solution, really the vegetables can be sold at half the price than they are being sold now.

I am not a biotechnologist or an intelligent human being to find out the solution to this. But as a responsible citizen of India, I have pointed out the problem. I am just a device that reveals the inner images of the body and points out the problem. It is for wise people in politics and NGOs to find the solution and give the necessary medication and treatment for the problem. Even in this technological world we still have to eat farm produces only, scientists have not yet come up with a pill that satisfies the hunger.

Already agricultural industry is lacking the deserving attention and care. Due to the increase in car factories, cool drink factories, and housing plots, the farmlands are shrinking day by day. Resulting in the need to produce a large quantity in a small land. This leads to the use of all types of Harmon-inducing chemicals, which in due course affect us only. Not only that, because micro and nano farmers are not able to sustain themselves, many of them and agricultural laborers are migrating from their native villages to nearby cities or even states for a living. Is this the way to treat the persons who produce the most necessary product for a human being?

Traveling fast, looking beautiful, and communicating at the speed of light are good of course, but they all come after the food. If we go on neglecting the base of our economy and civilization, there is going to be a disaster at the end. Please wake up fellow brothers and sisters, and give a supporting hand to farmers. Raise your voice for them not against them. Let us make our country again very proud by saying we produce the best chemical-free agricultural products in the world. Let us join our hands together to protect small, micro, and nano farmers and prevent their families from giving up farming. 

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