Farming No Longer Attracts the Young

 

Farming might be the oldest profession of mankind, yet it has been looked down on since the average person takes the food he or she consumes for granted. As if it is something that is made in a factory just like any other consumer product.

However, farming consists of so many factors, without which food cannot be brought into the market. It is not enough for a farmer just to combine soil, water, seed, and fertilizer; it needs good climate conditions and, most importantly, good care in a timely manner.

Although most of the farms are equipped with the latest farming tools and machines, human meddling still plays a big part. Old-school family farms and ranches still operate by hand and need a human workforce.

In today’s world, most of the farm work is considered back-breaking work, which has no appeal to the young high school graduates. Such a job would be deemed dirty and physically demanding. Farming has this negative image in the eyes of today’s youth, which discourages them from working at farms.  

Life in rural areas might also be another obstacle behind their hesitation. It might get pretty boring since most rural towns lack basic facilities such as gyms or cinemas.

If we want a sustainable and cheaper food supply in our country, we must make sure that farms operate with full capacity. The workforce necessary to run these farms must not go down because of a disdain towards tough farming practices and unfavorable rural conditions. We must destroy the negative image of farming and turn it into something that is both attractive and lucrative.

On Rural Income

Rural lands are known for their contribution to the national income through agricultural production. Acres and acres of land are allocated for the sole purpose of feeding the population that lives in cities. What if the allocation of resources is disrupted in a way that spoils the welfare of the people living in these rural areas? What if they find that growing wheat, grains, or vegetables no longer sounds profitable? In that case, the villagers or their offspring would flee their homes, looking for new prospects outside their world. Discouraged, they would stop producing food, causing prices of the food to plummet at the country level.

Such a scenario has been coming true in many parts of the world. Masses of villagers move to cities at a greater pace than ever. They find it difficult to raise their family merely by harvesting crops. Family ranches with less than an acre of land barely make ends meet, as it is costlier to practice farming on a small scale. Big farmers with hundreds of acres of land can minimize their costs by making use of economies of scale.

Governments must act in such cases by coming up with policies that can encourage these small farmers to continue producing. Subsidies are one of these policies since they have the potential to raise their income to levels that enable them to keep going.

Small farmers can also form what is called "co-operative farming", getting together with neighboring farmers to produce on a larger scale. Such a practice has cost-saving features that help farmers cope with the ever-rising costs of agricultural production.

Rising Food Prices Causes Concern

 

They say that an army walks on its stomach. It’s how well you feed your soldiers that wins the wars. On a broader sense, food gives us the energy needed to keep going. Nations who have problems feeding their citizens struggle on their way to development. However, raising food prices on a global scale threatens all nations alike.

Contingencies like wars and diseases have a potential to pause the production of food and leave us with a food supply not enough for  the world population. The resulting increases in the price of food may result in hunger in some parts of the world. That is exactly what has happened as the COVID and War in Ukraine pushed down the agricultural production worlwide.

The importance of agricultural practices matters now more than ever as world population keeps soaring. For years, this sector has been looked down on by governments, supposing that it would not add meaningful value to society, at least not as much as some of the rising sectors like Finance and Technology have already done.

Secondly, agricultural production is not predictable. It is highly volatile because the changes in climate have an undeniable effect on possible output. Hence, it must be heavily subsidized by the governments if a sustainable agricultural output is desired. Subsidies mean taxes, and levying taxes are not really welcomed in the political arena.

All in all, agricultural production must be supported by all means. It is of great importance not to let down our guard, and if we do, hunger and misery follow.