on india’s independence day , here are some ideas to improve our nation

aug 15 2020

agriculture forms 60 % of india’s economy and the farming community is shrinking .. they want to move away from the uncertainty in farming and move to the cities into other jobs

so , how can the entrepreneurs help here ? here are some suggestions

the farmers are frustrated due to the low prices that they get compared to what are sold for in the cities . people in the middle make huge profits just for transportation . so , if someone can develop a portal and an app where the direct buyers can be connected with the farmers .. it will be great for both ..

since the bulk of the buying is done by big players like restaurants and hotels – there could be a futures market – so when it is the sowing season , the farmers could put a bid for the crop that will be ready 3 months later – sort of a futures trading in crude oil or other commodities .

there could be smaller buyers like individual people or people buying in bulk for large societies – where more than 500 families stay .. but it would eliminate the middle men and give the farmers a fair say in the prices . it would also eliminate the stress of finding the buyers when the crop is ready .. the farmers would know that they already have buyers for their crops 3 months in advance ..

another reason farmers want out of farming is due to the weather – almost 90 % of them are dependent on the rains / monsoon for water. if they could get this dependency on the rains eliminated , it would be nice as well – there was a startup company from israel that invented technology of extracting water from the moisture in the atmosphere .. it was mentioned by their prime minister , benjamin netanyahu, in one of his speeches . the funding came from a russian – israeli businessman .

also , farmers could be mentored by senior farmers as to how to get the best yield from the crops and the soil – there are some television programs on local channels that help here , but we think more could be done .

the importance of green house farming – where the crops are grown in a glass house – no worries about un-seasonal rains and you could grow any crop or fruit – don’t have to worry about seasons .

to get a higher yield from the same area of farming , there are a lot of companies doing research on better yield seeds , germ and insect resistant seeds , etc

some habits that consumers need to change

please stop consuming food cooked in aluminium containers – you are likely to get a brain disease like parkinson’s or alzheimer’s in the older age due to the slow absorption of aluminium in the body

cooking in earthen clay pots preserve the minerals in the food better .. we are also fans of slow cooking of food – meaning , get rid of pressure cookers – somehow we need to go back to our olden days – the science was good ..

get more people into farming – bet a lot of you don’t know that farmers in india don’t pay any income taxes … this should be advertised enough so that more people get into it …

if you don’t come from a farming background , you can buy some land , hire some people do to the work and learn along the way ..

the air is a lot cleaner in the villages and life is a lot simpler too .. it moves at a much slower pace .. less stress