India is a land of agriculture and presently there is 159.7 million hectare arable land i.e. second largest after United State. From ancient time agriculture is the main profession of the people of India. In India agriculture is not only the profession but also the people of India see it as a way of living and they also relate it with their dignity and probity. Though it is well known, that in a developing country like India the maximum number of people depend on agriculture for their livelihood and indeed they live a dignified life.
Why we are saying that Agriculture is the ultimate savior? The main reason can be understand after getting some information from history about several pandemics that had been faced by the world and not only the pandemic but also World War or when there is economics crisis in the world, since the middle age, about a dozen of notable pandemics including COVID 19 outbreak and two world war which causes a massive destruction. Since 1900, there have been 8 pandemic in the world, among that some of the majors are, The Spanish flu (1918), The AIDS (1981), The MERS (2012) epidemics, West Africa Ebola (2013) and the current ongoing pandemic COVID 19 had infected more then 110 countries of the world. The only one thing is common in these pandemic is that ultimately many of the unemployed people who lost their jobs in these pandemic fell back on Agriculture for their livelihood. Like every profession even agriculture has a limited capacity to absorb unemployed people but the main important thing is, having limited capacity, agriculture will not lead any individual to die of Starvation though it lead to increase in Hidden unemployment (prachhann berojgari).
Pandemic had adversely affected the supply chain of the nation so that many of the necessary things are not available to number of people. They are searching for the alternative of the utmost priority goods and services but they fail to do so and they have only one hope and that is Agriculture. In the circumstances like pandemic where survival is of utmost priority and people are suffering from fear of losing job and indeed they are losing, high risk of future uncertainty, and also suffering from different abnormal mental health condition like Depression, in that circumstances agriculture has been raised like Savior to mankind. Agriculture, along with providing job, food to people and mitigating their risk of livelihood it also act as a psychiatrist because agriculture is also a medium of entertainment, one can be physically strong and fit if he/she is regularly working in field and also having healthy food.
People who had lost their job in these pandemic they are migrating from city/town to Villages as in city they don’t have any alternate job upon which the can fall. Those people who have small holding they will grow something to full fill their and family needs. And those people who are landless they will take field either on sharing or they will work as Agriculture labor. In short we can say that with limited resources agriculture may not have the capacity to full fill the unlimited wants of the people but agriculture do have capacity to satisfy the hunger of the people.
Akhilesh Kushwaha
M.Sc. Agriculture
Allahabad Agriculture University