Small-Scale Farmers Creating a New Profit Model – NYTimes.com

Post author By ASHOK M VAISHNAV
Post date July 3, 2012
6 Comments on Small-Scale Farmers Creating a New Profit Model – NYTimes.com

Organic farming, one devoid of use of fossil fertilizers, pesticides and fuels has been around for quite some time in India as well.

But, the concept is more at the stage of either a hobby or at the stage of ‘elite’ society’s ‘awareness’ of health.

The fact that NYT has thought fit to carry the story, should be utilized to leverage the concept of ‘small farmers [which is the category in which most of the real farmers of India would fall into] into a viable long term business model. This should be part of an efficient supply chain as well, with or without the {so called] large scale Retail, which in turn can be with or without FDI.

Small-Scale Farmers Creating a New Profit Model – NYTimes.com.

Tags Bharat, Creativity, democracy, Unconventional Do-Over Approaches

By ASHOK M VAISHNAV

In July 2011, I opted to retire from my active career as a practicing management professional. In the 38 years that I pursued this career, I had opportunity to work in diverse capacities, in small-to-medium-to-large engineering companies. Whether I was setting up Greenfield projects or Brownfield projects, nurturing the new start-ups or accelerating the stabilized unit to a next phase growth, I had many more occasions to take the paths uncharted. The life then was so challenging!
One of the biggest casualty in that phase was my disregards towards my hobbies - Be with The Family, Enjoy Music form Films of 1940s to mid-1970s period, write on whatever I liked to read, pursue amateur photography and indulge in solving the chess problems.
So I commenced my Second Innings to focus on this area of my life as the primary occupation.
At the end of four years, I am now quite a regular blogger. I have been able to build a few very strong pen-relationships.
I maintain contact with 38-years of my First Innings as freelance trainer and process facilitator.
And yet,
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

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6 replies on “Small-Scale Farmers Creating a New Profit Model – NYTimes.com”

We in India know what damage the much-hyped fertilizer based so-called Green Revolution has caused to the land. It s after effects are now becoming evident.

Here in NW Alabama, we are seeing a great increase in Farmers’ Markets and in Produce Markets and licensed organic meat processors! And PLEASE check out the famous (and HUGE) Dekalb Farmer’s Market in Atlanta, GA metro area!

Famers markets are ordinary people’s response to the prevailing ideas of big corporations handling the retail trade.

Indeed, this certainly seems to be a very heartening trend. Of course, the kinds of damage that fossil manures etc. and GM seeds would have caused to the present generation has to be borne by them only.
Remember the [so called] Bhopal Gas Tragedy, 1984 caused by the leakage of a highly poisonous gas from a storage tank from Union Carbide Plant, that was probably producing some insecticide or so! Thousands of people suffered in that direct fall out. But how many have paid for the lapse?
Not that these would be willing actions of delinquency of the – natural or moral or certainly legal – responsibility, but those who suffer on that count have hardly any remedial measure.
Striking that fine balance between short term gains vs. long term costs or short term costs vs. long term gains is, indeed, as much a technical as a moral issue for the individual concerned.

We have an interesting video on Karma Tube – “Restoring the Diversity of Indigenous Agriculture“.
“n an age where multinational agribusiness has casually stripped India of seed diversity, while creating dependence on its GMO seed products, Natabar Sarangi is on a mission to revitalize organic agriculture and reintroduce native rice varieties through seed banking. His fight is not only to repair the damage done to India’s agricultural sector since the so-called “green revolution”, it is to restore an ethic of sustainability and economic justice to farming. It is a struggle for the overall wellbeing of of the nation.

A film by Jason Taylor. More at The Source Project.Video from KarmaTube