How Technology Can Change the Life of a Farmer

How Technology Can Change the Life of a Farmer

India is probably among the countries with the highest amount of farming land and the most number of farmers. And ironically, our nation is the one with the most farmer suicide cases as well. 

“If agriculture goes wrong, nothing else will have a chance to go right in the country.”

-M. S. Swaminathan

So, what is the main cause of this scenario? Even though the farmers are the most hard working section of the society, they fall under the category of the poorest of the poor. They have been forced to live in a miserable condition for so long and most of them have even accepted that they deserve to live that way. The extent to which it has progressed, these conditions may never change.

“The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.”

-John F. Kennedy

Farmers don’t even have enough money to purchase good quality seeds, let alone modern farming instruments. They can cultivate only with the help of loaned amounts from private or government sources. Due to the lack of money, they are unable to get proper education that can help them in gaining better knowledge about farming and agriculture. 

The farming lands need regular water supply for better crops. They mostly depend on rain to get enough water for a good amount of produce, and given today’s environmental scenario, the scarcity of rain makes it even worse. Along with water supply, farmers also struggle due to the lack of proper amount of fertilizers. But they need to feed their families and themselves, so farmers cannot sit around waiting for better resources. So they end up borrowing money to save their crops and get their lives are sucked up in debt.

At the end of it all, even after the struggle and fight that they go through, it still depends on nature whether the produce will come out okay or not. They do not have any insurance. In fact, they don’t even know what insurance is!

The Food Corporation of India has been one of the most corrupt departments right from the beginning of the country’s independence. When the produce is finally ready to be sold, their prices go down drastically and unexpectedly. Either the government’s hands are tied, or they are blind to the situation. The Food Corporation behaves as if they also have no responsibility. Most of the time, they express their helplessness, in acquiring produce from farmers themselves at the right prices.

So through no fault of their own, the farmers and their families are left helpless, hopeless, foodless, homeless, and sometimes even lifeless. They are buried in debts and on top of that they suffer huge losses in sales. They try to sell their produce at the minimum price and instead, they end up suffering losses. Moreover, there are syndicates or organizations created by businessmen who decide the price at which crops should be sold. They do not allow any produce out of their area to be sold privately and also refuse to buy at the basic minimum price. All this struggle and helplessness drives several farmers to commit suicide.

Let me share an anecdote about an Indian farmer. 

A farmer was once asked, “How important is your land to you?”

He replied that it might just be a place of work for someone else, but it stood for a lot more than that for a farmer like him. The farmer equated the word LAND in the following manner:

L: Life

A: Ambition

N: Native

D: Determination

He explained it, saying that if he loses his land, he loses his life, his ambition, his native and his determination. He basically loses everything.

Their farmlands are their whole life. Farming is what they know and that is what they want to keep doing. It’s just the country’s scenario that forces them to kill themselves. They just need better conditions to work in.

Now, if we can somehow provide proper education to farmers and give them useful agricultural knowledge, it is possible to make a significant difference in their lives and the country’s agricultural situation. And if we can equip them with the latest technologies for farming, the scenario will definitely change. Our farmers need as much support as possible from their fellow citizens to save themselves from such situations. 

“The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.”

-Anonymous

Our government had declared some measures to help the farmers. These include farmers’ helpline, farmers’ credit cards, and so on. However, these measures have not touched the lives of farmers. It has merely helped in the marketing for the government. These measures have only helped in creating good content for hoardings and ‘Mann Ki Baat’. The number of suicides are still increasing constantly and the lives of farmers are getting worse with each passing day.

The scenario can also be changed if some private organizations come up to invest in information technology and bridge the gap between agriculture and technology. The farmers need to be made aware and provided with Information Technology Gateway through which they can reach and access the latest instruments and acquire basic training and guidance for farming in modern ways. This will help them in producing more food with the same amount of hard work on the same farmlands. They will learn how to produce healthier grains and vegetables which will be sold at high prices because of their quality. If farmers can access the national and global market through the IT gateway, they can put out their crops for open bidding and surely make more sales at higher prices than they are forced to sell on currently. The online sales process will also save a lot more time and hard work of going all the way to different vegetable markets.

Now we know that technology cannot protect the farmers from dishonest businessmen, agents and government officers. But here also, technology will play a major role in creating huge social awareness and gathering people’s moral, as well as physical support and protection. Information technology will not only help farmers, but also leak all such suppression and malpractices to the people all over the world. Thus, this nexus can be broken and millions of farmers’ lives may be saved from this hell-like situation.

If we look at the statistics of the country on how technology can improve the social & economical ecosystem by upbringing the farming industry, we will know that it’s scope is huge. India may even rule the world with supplies of fresh food & vegetables because God has gifted our country with such natural resources and a beautiful, vibrant nature. The economic growth will also be enormous and unemployment will be reduced in huge numbers.

“We should look upon agriculture not just as a food-producing machine for the urban population, but as the major source of skilled and remunerative employment and a hub for global outsourcing.”

-M. S. Swaminathan

 So to sum up, modern technology can help our farmers in the following ways:

• Reduced hard work with the use of the latest machinery
• Lesser amount of production and sale time
• Better water supply for crops
• Availability of chemical pesticides
• Improved fertility of soil for better produce
• Increased price and demand of produce
• Reduced adverse effects on the ecosystem

 The government might not bring this change, but we as the citizens of our beloved country, need to come forward to do it. IT organizations, social organizations, financial organizations, all of them have to come forward to do the needful and fulfill their duties and responsibilities towards India. And it won’t be long before we can turn this dream into a reality.

“Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful and most noble employment of man.” 

-George Washington