Visit a farmer/trader who grows and sells pulses. discuss what are the advantages and challenges that he faces in his profession. share his/her story as a newspaper article
Answers
The Price a Farmer Pays
Hoshiarpur- With the rising prices of pulses taking the nation by a storm, very few people realise that there is a lot more to simply growing and selling the grains. Things are not as simple as they sound like. A visit to a farmer in the rural areas of Punjab laid bare the many fears that farmers are vulnerable to.
To begin with, while each farmer sows what he thinks will be a great cash yielding crop, he may or may not be right. The weather gods could be harsh, offering little or no rain at all, or even ill-timed rains, destroying the crops completely and along them, the farmers dreams of a happy year. It wipes out an entire season of hard work in a short duration, causing distress, often leading to suicide.
If the weather holds good, then there are pests to counter. With strict guidelines regarding the use of pesticides, farmers have no information about alternatives. Though there are ‘kisan kendras’ set up for them, they do not seem to have enough faith in them. They would rather trust what farmers from the neighbouring villages say, instead of going to governmental agencies for help.
Yet another issue is that of finding the right people at the right time. It includes finding labour to harvest the crops without having to pay through the nose. Finding an honest middleman to help them sell the grains at the local markets, is also a challenge. Most of the farmers are uneducated and have no knowledge of the current rates and trends and often end up getting cheated. The middlemen make more money than the farmers themselves.
With so many issues to handle, and little guidance from the government, there is an urgent need to win the trust of the farmers and help them with scientific know-how. Making markets more accessible for the farmers will help promote agriculture which is necessary for each and every citizen of the nation.