Curious eyes

A decade ago, being a farmer meant living life in isolation: limited access to technology, poor connectivity, walking several kilometer just to fetch fresh and clean drinking water, and walking long distance to reach the nearest paved road. But these days reality is starkly different.

I visited my native this week and was amazed to see the depth of technological penetration in rural India. Almost every family now owns a smartphone. A lot of young farmers actively use social platforms like facebook, instagram. Every house now has a pipeline for clean drinking water. 

This transformation is slow, but tangible. Take the case of cattle trade, for example. In the past, selling a livestock meant trekking to the nearest physical market – process involving transportation cost, immense effort and often multiple wasted trips. But today digital marketplaces have taken over. Dedicated facebook groups now connect buyers to sellers – saving transportation cost, time and labor.

The government is playing a role in this shift as well. I learned that there is currently an 80% subsidy available to help farmers install solar-powered motors, reducing dependency on the grid and also government provides similar subsidies for buying farm equipments.

Yet, despite this note of positivity, there remains a lot of problem to be solved. Rural India still faces significant hurdles. Power cuts are frequent, especially during the monsoon season, and there is little to no infrastructure for schools – good education is still a luxury a lot cannot afford. I’ve also noticed a lot of people hooked on reels rather than growth oriented content. 

But one thing is clear: the stereotype of the technologically disconnected farmer is fading away. The struggles are still there, but a new generation of tech-savvy farmers is logging in and powering up solar grids. I’m excited about the future.