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I travel to India every other month for my job. Most agriculture happens on small farms by poor and uneducated people. Introducing new technology and agricultur

I travel to India every other month for my job. Most agriculture happens on small farms by poor and uneducated people. Introducing new technology and agricultural practices is difficult but is certainly underway in parts of the country. There is also a lack of political will to solve the problem in the particular case of Delhi and its neighboring state of Punjab, and as the parent comment suggested, there is very much a tendency to sow disinformation by those highest up.

luckydata 7y ago
Introducing new technologies is difficult with the supposedly highly educated American farmers. Reality is, farmers worldwide are awfully anti-intellectual with a strong contrarian streak and rarely listen to science, even if ironically science has given them their way of life in the form of fertilizers, GMOs etc... Source: I worked for an ag-tech company and I will never EVER have anything to do again with anything that has to do with that world.
- briandear 7y ago
  American farmers are anti-intellectual and rarely listen to science? Citation is really needed, because that’s not what reality shows. It’s very true that farmers are risk adverse, but that’s for good reason: it takes years for “discoveries” to be vetted and people aren’t going to literally bet the farm on trendy tech until it’s proven. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/business/farming-technology-agriculture.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/business/farming-technolo...
  - mycall 7y ago
    American farmers are extremely innovative, today and throughout history. Hell, they invented TV.
    - luckydata 7y ago
      American farmers are grease monkeys, they like big machines but know approx. jack squat about agronomy. If I could have a dollar for all the nitrogen farmers waste because they don't know how to manage soil properly I would be a goddamn trillionaire.
newyankee 7y ago
It does not help that land holdings in India can be as small as 2-3 acres per person. Water distribution is what decides the overall economy of a given region and due to political reasons it has not been easy to change agricultural policies either (although a big effort is underway).
- Jedd 7y ago
  > It does not help that land holdings in India can be as small as 2-3 acres per person. Why do you think this doesn't help? Are there examples of countries with much larger average landholdings where land management practices are considered excellent?
stallmanite 7y ago
Could you elaborate about the types of misinformation being sown by the higher-ups? Seems like a familiar anti-pattern.
- primitivesuave 7y ago
  A top political leader is claiming Pakistan or China may be responsible for releasing the toxic fumes. Notice that one of the most popular newspapers in India does nothing to refute this illogical and unscientific theory. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pakistan-may-have-released-poisonous-gas-to-pollute-air-in-india-says-up-bjp-leader/story-aYAomVYJbxnkFCkqRtH1BN.html https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pakistan-may-have-...

luckydata 7y ago

Introducing new technologies is difficult with the supposedly highly educated American farmers. Reality is, farmers worldwide are awfully anti-intellectual with a strong contrarian streak and rarely listen to science, even if ironically science has given them their way of life in the form of fertilizers, GMOs etc... Source: I worked for an ag-tech company and I will never EVER have anything to do again with anything that has to do with that world.

briandear 7y ago
American farmers are anti-intellectual and rarely listen to science? Citation is really needed, because that’s not what reality shows. It’s very true that farmers are risk adverse, but that’s for good reason: it takes years for “discoveries” to be vetted and people aren’t going to literally bet the farm on trendy tech until it’s proven. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/business/farming-technology-agriculture.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/business/farming-technolo...
- mycall 7y ago
  American farmers are extremely innovative, today and throughout history. Hell, they invented TV.
  - luckydata 7y ago
    American farmers are grease monkeys, they like big machines but know approx. jack squat about agronomy. If I could have a dollar for all the nitrogen farmers waste because they don't know how to manage soil properly I would be a goddamn trillionaire.

newyankee 7y ago

It does not help that land holdings in India can be as small as 2-3 acres per person. Water distribution is what decides the overall economy of a given region and due to political reasons it has not been easy to change agricultural policies either (although a big effort is underway).

Jedd 7y ago
> It does not help that land holdings in India can be as small as 2-3 acres per person. Why do you think this doesn't help? Are there examples of countries with much larger average landholdings where land management practices are considered excellent?

stallmanite 7y ago

Could you elaborate about the types of misinformation being sown by the higher-ups? Seems like a familiar anti-pattern.

primitivesuave 7y ago
A top political leader is claiming Pakistan or China may be responsible for releasing the toxic fumes. Notice that one of the most popular newspapers in India does nothing to refute this illogical and unscientific theory. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pakistan-may-have-released-poisonous-gas-to-pollute-air-in-india-says-up-bjp-leader/story-aYAomVYJbxnkFCkqRtH1BN.html https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pakistan-may-have-...