‘Farmers are the pillars of the society and the economy.’

There are some people in this world, who we see every day, yet we take no notice of. People who care for us and are the very reason we live, yet we do not know them and treat them as outsiders. Farmers.

Our nation lives on agriculture. Agriculture employs about 50% of the population and contributes about 20.2% to the country’s GDP. As per the FAO(Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), India is one of the largest producers of many fresh fruits like mangos, bananas, guavas and the second largest producer of the world’s major food staples, rice and wheat. It is also the second largest producer of dry fruits, eggs, coconut, sugarcane, farmed fish, pulses and numerous vegetables. It is also one of the world’s largest producers of livestock and poultry along with some cash crops like cotton.

As a country who owes so much to our farmers, we ought to give them the highest place and direct all our respect towards them. Instead we do the very opposite. We neglect them, and consider them as outcasts. So this is what I want to say. All that you’ve been reading has led up to this very message. And that is, to take this one day, 23rd December, and to celebrate it for our farmers. 23rd December, the birth anniversary of our former Prime Minister, Chaudhary Charan Singh was declared as Kisan Diwas, or Farmer’s Day as a reminder of the work he did for the peasants of our country, and as an indirect message to us, to keep celebrating our farmers.

So on 23rd December, 2023, take a vow that we will always cherish our farmers, give them respect and also to not waste that plate of chapattis you don’t like. Farmers are one of the few people in this world who give everything to us and take nothing in return. So, don’t you think its time they finally get what they deserve?