Modern Farmers

Be it the dawn of mankind, or the year 2017, the civilization has undergone countless number of changes. From the invention of the first wheel to the rovers that now move over a completely different planet, we as a civilization have truly come a long way. From the first cry for food, to being able to speak different languages, from the first blow of the hammer on the stone to now being able to make fully functional humanoids, mankind has endured and undergone many challenges and changes respectively. But there was always one common factor that was always with us humans since the time man came to know about how the plants grow and before, i.e. the need to have the best of the food that is available to us.

Over the years, farming has gradually evolved to shift its focus from just doing it for mere survival to now producing food at a gross level not only to feed oneself but to do so for everyone around which gave rise to the agricultural industry. Nowadays, farming is more than just sowing seeds and reaping crops. Thanks to genetic engineering, now by manipulating the genetic makeup of the crops, we can now make them resistant to pests, less vulnerable to the effect of change in climate and more sustainable. Not only that, the genetic makeup can now be modified in order to produce a lot more from the same amount of seeds than they used to produce earlier. That is the beauty of biotechnology which is now used rapidly in order to combat world hunger and malnutrition.

 But who exactly is a modern farmer and how do you recognize one amongst the millions who have taken up farming as their profession. Well, the term ‘Modern Farmer’ is a relative one. In the past, one would have considered the person who used a pair of bulls to plough and toil their lands as modern, where as ones opinion now may change and might be something like, the one who uses modern machinery to increase yield. But to really distinguish oneself among the millions doing the same job of growing food, a farmer to be categorized as a modern one needs to be willing to take that extra step which they rest seldom do. That extra step is the willingness to be aware. To be constantly aware of the new developments in the field of agriculture. Not just that, but the farmer must be willing to try out the new varieties of the crops that show promising results. The farmer should be able to adapt to the latest technological advancements and change his or her farming method in order to yield the maximum benefits.

Farming has come a long way since humans started growing food. The major development other than the change in perspective of farming is the change in the method of doing so. Let us shed some light on some of the primitive methods of farming and compare them with the ones that we use now. Some of the primitive methods of farming include, the ‘Slash and Burn’ technique of farming. This method of farming was mostly prevalent earlier as earlier, humans used to reside in small colonies. The culture was nomadic one wherein, they used to settle in one place, use up the resources that were available in the area of settlement and move on. With respect to the population per squre unit area, though this technique used to deplete the resources of the area, by the time the next settlement arrived, the soil had enough time to replenish the nutrients and so it worked. But as the population rose exponentially in the years to come, this kind of farming proved to be very disadvantageous. The reason being, the rate of regeneration of resources remained the same. But as the settlements grew larger in size and the people per settlement increased, the people started depleting the resources at a much faster rate than they could be replenished. As a result, the forest cover which was lost in order to clear the area for farming could not be gained back in time, as a result of which the soil started to become more and more barren. Also the seeds used were not always healthy and since the use of pesticides and insecticides was next to none, lots of crops were lost to pests and bad weather.

But as we learnt better farming techniques, and as the population kept on increasing and other avenues opened up for survival people started changing professions as a result of which, now we find small number of people farming on a larger area of land as compared to earlier. The use of machinery enabled one to multiply the growth rate in manifolds. Genetically improved crops could last longer and were resistant to adverse factors which facilitated in higher produce. As we progressed further, various government grants enabled farmers to be capable financially to afford more progressive farming techniques.

But despite such developments, some areas still lack the ability to adapt to such farming methods. A large factor that hinders them is the lack of awareness and education. People must be made aware that, the only thing that is constant in this world is change. And the ability to adapt to change is the need of the hour for survival.