Times are changing, really. People wanting to become farmers. The numbers may not very large. But it’s true that there individuals who do not like to be an IT consultant, a banker, a doctor or an engineer.
GG, a lecturer in a Engg. College in Mumbai, is planning to “go back and settle in a village.” A city bred and a diehard urbanite, he plans to become a kisan. No. he’s serious. And of sound mind.
He‘s preparing for his new soon-to-be-taken-livelihood for over two years now. Whenever he gets times, that means come vacation he leaves the city along with his wife and 10-year-old son visiting farms spread all over the country, meeting individuals who are doing pioneering work in agriculture or plainly those who follow organic farming and are making a respectable living while caring for the Earth.
“I need to learn as much as I can,” says mid thirties GG.
I ask him whether there are people he knows who have similar dreams of choosing to become a farmer. And he provides me examples of several of them.
This winter vacation he was at Deepak Suchde’s farm in Harad in Madhya Pradesh. Suchde is originator of Amrut Krishi, a farming system which while incorporating certain good aspects of organic farming, goes much beyond organic farming both in terms of philosophy and science.
If all goes according to his plans GG will leave Mumbai and relocate to a village in Bijnor, UP to become a part of a community farming group made of people from different walks of life. But with one purpose: becoming a farmer.
Is becoming a farmer easy? What does one need to be a farmer?
I came across this interesting post in the blog Barrows Farmer. wordpress.com.
Let’s just take a look at all the things you need to know to operate a farm.
You need to be a:
Meteorologist – knowing your climate is very important for crops
Agronomist – in areas such as crop rotation, irrigation and drainage, plant breeding, plant physiology, soil classification, soil fertility, weed control, insect and pest control.
Chemist – chemical compositions of soils and forages
Veterinarian – for animal health and welfare
Geography – to understand the land, the soil and soil compositions, and water movements
Ecologist – to know and understand impacts of the environment and wildlife. This also includes pest management
Biologist – to understand what makes plants grow and how they grow, to understand the evolution of life
Geneticist – to understand breeding and reproductive qualities
Engineer – for waste management, flow through patterns of livestock, water irrigation
Having being a weekend farmer for over two years now I also believe being a farmer is not that sexy as it looks.
sundayfarmer 