Generational Challenges for Farmers in India

Sanjay Patel knew he would have to assume control of the family farm in India. The transition was imminent in that his father, Manhar, was 75-years old and infirm. Sanjay knew he would have to plan the succession with his father to respect his wishes. The plan also needed the input of other family members. Eventually it needed to be codified legally with the proper documentation of an estate plan and transfer of title to the land from Manhar to Sanjay. At present Sanjay had two conflicting broad visions. One focused on adopting more modern farming techniques. He would have to hire someone. Paying a salary on top of losing money on a small farm could be a serious obstacle. The second vision was to sell the land. A combination of the two was possible if some land was sold while still retaining ownership to other portions of the farm (e.g., the lot with the house and family garden) and land that was uncultivable (e.g., wetland, rocky etc.). Generationally, it became increasingly difficult for the farmers of South Gujarat to carry on and pass down the agriculture-centered life they had spent their lives building. Though Sanjay had settled and purchased property in the United States, he felt “fortunate to be part of a farming family with strong agricultural land holdings,” yet acknowledged that the following economic realities were barriers to farming. “Growing prices of land can be discouraging,” along with “low returns for the efforts put in” (Patel, 2024). From shifting to more modern farming techniques to offering incentives to buyers for the land, it was apparent that he was interested in continuing his father’s agricultural business. This, however, cannot be said for all of the aging farmers, let alone their heirs and their generation, of the Southern Gujarat region. As the world evolved both societally and technologically, the rurality of an agrarian lifestyle lost its appeal, which presented a challenge to farmers of the villages of India and, consequently, the country’s economy as a whole. This problem wasn’t limited to the South Asian subcontinent. Internationally it had a profound impact on rural communities. More specifically, younger generations in the agriculture-centered villages of southern Gujarat, India often lost any interest in pursuing this rural lifestyle. They preferred more urban, fast-paced lives. Farmers’ recent experiences did not portend a better future. Declining return on investment for purchased land, crop patterns disrupted by climate change, decreased land fertility, and lack of employable farm workers all contributed to a grim future for agrarian lifestyles.