Shadow of the clouds

How often did our answers in social studies/ geography in school started with – “India is an agricultural country…”? And today in this mall-infested culture and service industry syndrome, we have all but forgotten this little general knowledge info that India is the 2nd largest country in terms of farm produce and still employs 52% of the workforce and happens to still retain the honour of largest economic sector in terms of GDP in Indian economy. And the only time we think about agriculture is when the Met department predicts of bad monsoon or the prices of vegetables and fruits hit the roof, which is a pretty common occurrence…

Its while flying over the North Indian Gangetic plains of the country, one sees the variation of the season on the agricultural land. The dry parched soil of the summers gives way to lush green water-logged paddy fields of monsoon to the ripe golden wheat waiting to be harvested towards the end of winter season – makes one realize that inspite of all modernism we still are an agricultural country. And if anyone has observed from the plane, the shadow of the clouds on the land is truly beautiful, creating a dhoop-chhaaon effect, the droplets of the rain bearing clouds hitting the windows when the plane passes below them.

And as the agriculture economy struggles with the shadow of clouds and no rains, the technology and the innovations that drive the way of life in modern cities desperately need to be harnessed to reach to the last man in this country. It is not only about mobile phone, internet and cable TV that spells technology, it is about better yield crops, deploying natural resources to create new resources that help farmers, using technology to get the farmer to the buyer and thereby eliminating the middle man and many other innovations that will help Indian economy to truly be the super power. And honestly, the way Indian population is growing, we need to be able to produce food for ourselves and our future generations.

Under the shadow of clouds waiting for rains,
Pooja
July 7, 2010