No end in sight to farmers' hardships

Agricultural sector has been modernized and mechanized significantly. There has been a significant reduction in the human labour in the sector. Machines are used for almost everything right from ploughing the land to harvesting. India is self-sufficient in producing agricultural products. Hence, all the changes are welcomeable.
Sometimes due to natural disasters including flood and drought, crops are damaged, leading to huge financial loss to farmers. Many times, the farm produce do not get adequate prices even though the yield is good. No matter how we calculate it, farmers make little to no profit.
Though the union and state governments have been offering financial assistance coupled with low-interest loans and subsidies to farmers, the status of farmers across the country has not improved much. They continue to languish in poverty.
For instance, let’s take the case of the 75-year-old Ambadas Pawar residing in Latur district of Marathwada region of Maharashtra. He has 2.5 acres of land. But he does not have the means to buy bullocks or tractors to plough and cultivate this land. He can neither afford to hire farmhelps. So, he has been ploughing the field by taking his wife Muktabhai’s with wooden plough.
His wife said, “Our son is working as a daily wage laborer in the city. We, the elderly, are doing all the agricultural work from ploughing to harvesting. We have been forced to take loans due to the heavy rains that have damaged the crops for the past two years.” Now, their video has gone viral on social media platforms, exposing the hardships and plight of poor Indian farmers.
If it is true that farmers are the backbone of the Indian economy, shouldn’t the status of the poor farmer have improved? The video has shown that government schemes have not reached all the villages and that the monitoring of the officials has not effectively implemented the schemes.
It is obvious that today’s generation is gradually moving away from the agricultural industry. We should focus more on the agricultural industry and ensure that the farmers get income. It is true that most of the people in that industry are above the age of 50 and 60. Therefore, it is essential to take steps to improve the agriculture sector, and it is the high time. Just like Tamil Nadu, every other state should present a separate budget for agriculture, and pay special attention to it.
It is a lesson that modernized machineries haven’t reached the nook and corner of the country. This apart, the falling number of farmers is also a rising concern.