Impressions:
- Agriculture? Give me a job any day! This patterns repeats from Pochampalli. I’m here doing this agriculture thing because there’s nothing else to do. Give me an opportunity, I’d rather go and work in a job with a salary at the end of the month. The kids? I’m sending them to school so they can at least go get that job. If they don’t, bad luck… they’ll probably end up doing agriculture till they find an opportunity!
- What’s there to learn about agriculture?!! The dealer’s a good enough source of info! This was interesting. The farmers clearly thought there was no skill-learning that was relevant to their livelihood, At the most they would need continuous information… and the local dealer at the market was good enough for that!
- BSC Agriculture vs an “agriculture ITI”. My NGO friend had a different perspective. Continuous learning was relevant for agriculture… it’s just the farmer didn’t realize that fact. However, he adds quickly – “what we need is not more agriculture Degree courses – that’s not going to help – they’ll all go and sell seed and fertilizer anyway for big companies. Neither will very short term intensive lecturing / training work – ever seen a farmer cooped up in a training session? He’s spaced out in 2 hours max. What might work is a very practical knowledge and skills approach like in the ITIs. Good enough to support a livelihood and provide context for sound learning – but not complex and demanding as a degree. On the whole, a much better option”. Hmm. Well. Certainly makes sense to my way of thinking!
- Just how many cell phones was that?? I read a TRAI report that says India added 6.8 million cell phone connections in Jan 2007. I nodded, thought of a billion people, and filed away a purely numerical data point in my head. When I met 10 farmers working in the middle of practically nowhere, and discovered two of them had cell phones, the impressions hit the gut. This is moving faster and bigger than I’d imagined.
- We talk, not sms! Even with all those cell phones, SMS (that scourge that possesses large numbers of people in urban areas) seemed happily irrelevant and absent. First, why type when I can speak? Two, how the hell am I supposed to use English for messaging? Three, even if my handset and service were to supports local language, can you imagine the interface nightmare to type Indian language phonemes using phone keys??
- What’s a computer? No, no one’s seen a computer. Doesn’t seem like any sort of meaningful contraption for our friends the farmers. Obviously asking about the internet didn’t make any sense. The cell phone and internet aren’t yet talking to each other – for a variety of reasons: cost of service, handset capability and a simple lack of meaningful web based content / services for the farmers
- 10k to 130k in 6 months flat. And going higher. Land prices – including land no one particularly cared about – just went through the roof. The people buying it are just investing in real estate because it’s the hot thing in the first quarter of 2007. Definitely no agricultural interests! Can anyone think of a good reason why a farmer might not be sorely tempted to sell off his lands?
- Loan-ly state of affairs. I ask my friendly farmers - why not take loans to improve agricultural practices or invest in other / related livelihoods? Dairy or livestock, perhaps? I get indulgent let’s-humor-her smiles all around. Getting a loan from a bank without pledging land as collateral is about as plausible as snowfall in May in Warangal. And later I’m educated by my untiring guide – loans are taken for seed, and for weddings. Nothing else seems to merit a financial mis-adventure as grave a taking a loan!!
Compared to Pochampalli, this trip was as different the proverbial chalk and cheese. But completely educative, nonetheless!
1 comment:
my first comment!
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