Agriculture as a profession

Agriculture has been man's primary vocation since dawn of civilization and it still remains an important activity of majority of population in the world over. In India, agriculture forms the backbone of our economy but with changing times of new civilization born with all comforts, majority of people are running away from this zero-profit, highly skilled and hard-work profession. People are always discussing about the decreasing availability of food items like sugar, pulses, vegetables and fruits etc and costs of every food item for a common man are going beyond reach. Besides, the available food items are not up to mark from their quality point of view and are also injected harmful pesticides. Changing climatic conditions are responsible to some extent for foodgrain shortage and rising costs but more is the attitude of people to leave agriculture as a profession. Scientists and engineers sitting in air conditioner laboratories are least aware of the ground level problems faced by the farmers in the fields throughout the year from every angle whether it is equipment, labour, climate, seed etc. For the last many years of developments in science and technology, very few significant advances have been brought fruits to farmers in terms of making agriculture as a cost-effective, comfortable and profitable profession.  We cannot motivate our future generation to opt for agriculture as a profession without giving much attention to the problems faced by the farmers.
Agriculture is not only about tilling the land and watering the fields but is the cornerstone of the economy. Increasing incidents of rising prices of agriculture items due to their decreasing availability is an indication of something very wrong with the agriculture sector of the country. Majority of the urban young generation and to a large extent the rural young generation also are not participating in agriculture sector and are not aware of the techniques of agriculture and think that food items are just available in the market for money and do not appreciate that some people might have sweat day and night to grow these food items in very hard circumstances. The youth plays an integral part in the development of agriculture which is a very energy intensive job. Therefore, we need to make every effort to involve them in agriculture as young as possible but it is the irony of the system that people involved in agriculture do not want their children to continue with the profession any longer as survival cannot go solely based on agriculture and moreover, agriculture is a hard and highly skilled job. If a person is not well trained in agriculture, not from acquiring diplomas or degrees in agriculture, but in real senses on the fields itself then doing agriculture is not an easy job.  
It is essential that we take a holistic look at the problems associated with agriculture sector and people associated with it in small or big capacity. It is very clear that agriculture is a part of our life and we should see to the sustainable development of youth in agriculture, as the main engine of economic growth in rural communities, through an efficient and sustainable service, which will enhance the environment and improve the quality of life of rural families and youth. In order to obtain these goals we want the youth to become full partners through programmes that will empower girls and boys at an early age; to look at agriculture as the very essence of our subsistence and to have a full knowledge of its importance and best practices in agriculture. We need to establish an awareness that agriculture is not only for men, but that is equally attractive to young woman. We must bring agriculture into our schools through education support programmes in order to facilitate change in education and national policy development about the agriculture. Initiatives should aim to develop the analytical, research, and self-expression skills in order for young people to think critically about their world to become the messengers that will influence the society about agriculture.
Working of youth in agriculture sector is critical for our present and future survival. Our education policy makers have not given sufficient emphasis on agriculture at the school level to attract the talent to the prime profession of the country. There is a need to mobilize/motivate/encourage/equip youth, students and scholars by providing facilities to those who wants to do agriculture. Opening of agriculture colleges/universities/research institutes involved in developing new agricultural technologies will only be helpful if people are willing to take agriculture as a profession by choice and they feel satisfying in its continuous service. Good monsoons, high yielding crop varieties, irrigation facilities etc will only do when people will continue to stay with agriculture as a profession. The education policy should be aimed at preparing the youth for livelihood as conscious food producers and for a sustainable management of biodiversity. There is an urgent need to integrate agriculture in school curricula at all levels. In the beginning, we can initiate model school garden projects in primary and secondary schools at the block level, where basic work on positive values of food, agriculture and environment should be taught and practically done by the youth by adopting scientific techniques. The scientific and practical teaching-learning process in such schools can help students choose their careers consciously. This will help develop respect for the role of food producers and also develop awareness about public role in biodiversity conservation. 
It is said that global food production needs to be increased by between 50 and 100 per cent if widespread famine is to be avoided in the coming decades as the human population expands rapidly. Therefore, a second "green revolution" is needed in agriculture to feed the extra 3 billion people who will be added to the existing population of 6 billion by 2050. The experts believe that a variety of short-term and long-term measures will have to be adopted urgently if agricultural production is to meet the demands made by the growth in human numbers. They cite the original green revolution of the 1960s when new crop varieties, greater use of agro-chemicals, and a change in farming practices led to a dramatic increase in food production: it leapt from 1.84 billion tonnes in 1961 to 4.38 billion tonnes in 2007 but this increase could take place due to the strong interest of people involved in agriculture. Second green revolution has to be based on a sustainable increase in global food production with limiting agriculture land, dwindling water resources, avoiding the use of fertilizers and pesticides and above all lessening interest of youth in agriculture. There is no panacea for ensuring global food security and thus, science-based approaches introduced alongside social science (motivating farmers to continue with the profession) and economic innovations are essential if we're to have a decent chance of feeding the world's population in the times to come
Dr SS Verma, Dept of Physics SLIET, Longowal