I read a story in the India Times discussing how more and more farmers are reliant on off-farm income. It’s interesting to see how this is the case throughout the world – it was easy to find similar articles for Canada, Australia, and Europe.
Some of this is doubtless due to farmers having to wear many hats – some of which may be related to farming but still described as off-farm income. A farmer who sits on the board of a local credit union may derive a significant portion of their income from that post, even though their goal is to gain better access to the resources they need to operate their farm.
The proportion of the population that farms has been shrinking for years. Is it possible that the future will have 50% of the population farming 1-2% of the time instead of 1-2% of the population being full time farmers? I doubt this will happen, but depending on what technological advances or retreats happen it is a possiblity.
Post a Comment