Fewer farms, older hands

FARMS ARE declining across the world, and farmers are ageing. The average age of a farmer in the world is 55 years, closer to the retirement age. At the same time, there seems to be less interest among the youth to take up farming. Going by data with the International Labour Organization, in 1991 agriculture accounted for 43 per cent of global employment. By 2023, it reduced to 26 per cent. According to Census 2011, every day 2,000 farmers in India give up farming. Arnold Puech Pays d'Alissac, president of the World Farmers' Organisation, has a warning, rather an alarm call: “A lot of people will be out of the job, I expect, retired, very soon.”

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Farming is a foundational economic activity. It is also unique in many ways. Its base—the land—is a finite resource, with multiple competing uses. Farming critically depends on the climate, which is changing, thereby disrupting crop cycles. It has limits to growth, even as demand for food is rising. It remains labour-intensive and labour-centric, and fewer people are inclined to enter the profession. In short, our food production system is facing unprecedented challenges.