We believe that the agricultural system is functioning for the people. But, if the agricultural system is functioning for the welfare of the people, shouldn’t the food we eat become healthier? If the modern agriculture system is following the best farming methodologies, shouldn’t our farmlands become fertile? If the advanced technologies and modern machineries are developed for the betterment of our farmers, shouldn’t our farmer’s lives become better?
But when our food is becoming more poisonous day by day and the numbers of food-borne diseases are increasing continuously, when the fertility of our agricultural lands is gradually depleting, and when the percentage of farmers that give up on farming is consistently on the rise, why do we believe that the agriculture system is functioning for us?
In a society, where farming has been practiced for centuries and passed down through generations as their culture, why did most of the farmers gave up on farming in the past few decades? Why do the majority of the farming families don’t want their next generation to take up farming? Isn’t this trend an indication that today’s agriculture does not provide farmers with a respectable income, value, respect, or a happy life? If so, isn’t it reasonable to conclude that the agricultural system isn’t actually working for the benefits of the farmers?
When the groundwater levels that were preserved while farming for thousands of years have decreased to an unacceptable level in the last 60–65 years and when the agriculture sector is the major contributor to water depletion, isn’t it logical to agree that the so-called modern farming system is depleting our groundwater resources and thereby destroying our agriculture?
It was not so long ago when all our farmers had specific crop varieties suitable for their specific regions and specific seasons, selected those localised varieties, developed the characters they wanted, shared them with their fellow farmers, followed seed preservation and germinating techniques, and integrated these practices into their festivals and cultures. And now, when the current agricultural system in the name of green revolution has brought our farmers to the point where they have to buy the seeds needed for each sowing from a non-farming, profit oriented trader, isn’t it sensible to figure out that today’s farming system is functioning against the well-being of the farmers?
Our famers had diverse cattle breed’s ideal for their distinctive localities and cropping systems and domesticated them for all their agricultural needs. But when today’s farming system, in the name of white revolution, has forced our farmers to abandon the traditional breeds they once considered their family, isn’t it reasonable for us to believe that the agricultural revolutions are planned and executed to work against the well-being of the farmers?
Our farmers had a good understanding of the natural processes, and they were farming in harmony with the natural cycles. Their agricultural knowledge and techniques were continuously refined and passed down through generations. But, when modern agriculture has deceived them to neglect their knowledge and forced them to purchase information on what and when to plant (seeds and varieties) and what and when to spray (fertilizers and pesticides) from the traders who profit from the corporate business, isn’t it easy for us to decide that today’s agriculture system is not working for the benefit of our farmers?
In the past generations, our farmers produced healthy and quality food without paying anything for agriculture. But now, when the so-called modern agricultural system has tricked them into paying for every activity such as ploughing, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, harvesting, transporting while selling the produce, and also for their own food, thereby making them debtors without even their knowledge, for whose benefits is today’s agricultural system working?
During the introduction of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, it was our own farmers who said that they didn’t need any chemical salts to produce their food on their fertile lands. And now, when our farmers themselves claim that the crops won’t grow properly without these chemical poisons, for whose benefits is, today’s agricultural system working?
It was not so long ago when our farmers valued all the lives around them, co-existed with them, and even fed them. But now, when the same generations of farmers are poisoning their own foods and all our foods, isn’t it reasonable to conclude that the agricultural system isn’t actually working for the betterment of the farmers?
So, when today’s agriculture system, in the name of scientific and modern agriculture, is actually poisoning our foods, destroying our farmlands, and wickedly looting our farmers, why did the government impose such a system as revolutions that will improve agriculture and farmers? And why is the government subsidizing chemical fertilisers that are poisoning our foods?
Why doesn’t the medical world inform us that the main cause of most of our diseases is the toxins in our food? Why does it continue to hide the fact that diseases are developing and multiplying because of the poisonous chemicals in our foods?
Why don’t our school subjects talk about the hidden purpose of the Green Revolution and its true consequences? Why are the educational institutions corrupting our minds by cultivating the thought that we need chemical fertilizers to save us from famines and to meet the demands of the increasing population?
When all the media networks advertise for the hybrid seeds and chemical fertilizers, why none of them sensitize the true effects on our agricultural system? And why do the mainstream media hide the fact that the Green Revolution has destroyed our farmlands and indebted our farmers? And why are they keeping us ignorant about the politics behind the Green Revolution?
Whatever the reasons maybe, isn’t it true to conclude that the government system, medical system, education system and the entire mainstream media networks are all working together to poison our foods? And when the entire system is working to ensure that all our foods are poisoned, don’t they indicate that the agriculture system is currently not working and will never ever work for our betterment or for the welfare of the farmers?
To continuously question the system and to understand the true nature of the social system we’re living in, stay connected with Vattam.
We ask powerful questions that can change the way we think. We engage in productive conversations that can change the way we live.
Well narrated Regan !! Simple but thought provoking !! Thanks for the time and effort you are putting in such mindful writings for the reader to start thinking and take up corrective actions. Keeping writing for the wellness of the individuals, community, all species and the planet.
Your words mean a lot. If not regularly, I hope to write continuously.