India is a young country with an old problem.
Average age of an Indian citizen: 29
Average age of an Indian farmer: 50
That’s not a statistic. That’s a warning siren.
We are a nation of twenty-somethings eating food grown by fifty-somethings, and quietly assuming this arrangement will continue forever. It won’t.
Every day, more than 2,000 farmers quit farming. Not retire. Quit. Because debt doesn’t wait for harvest, and dignity doesn’t pay school fees.
And while we’re busy celebrating startups and unicorns, two of India’s largest job-providing sectors are quietly bleeding:
- Farming – our food backbone
- Handloom – our cultural and employment backbone
Both are shrinking.
Both are ageing.
Both are being abandoned by the next generation.
And we’re acting surprised.
The Real Crisis Is Not Food. It Is People.
We talk about food security like it’s a storage problem.
Build more warehouses.
Improve MSP.
Import when needed.
But the real crisis is simpler and more dangerous:
There are fewer people who want to grow food at all.
A 22-year-old in a village today looks at farming and sees:
- Unpredictable income
- Rising input costs
- Climate risk
- Market middlemen
- Social status of “failed professional”
Meanwhile, the city offers:
- Monthly salary
- AC offices
- LinkedIn titles
- Predictable life
This is not migration.
This is rational escape.
Same story in handloom.
Young weavers don’t leave because they hate tradition.
They leave because tradition doesn’t pay rent.
When farming and weaving become symbols of poverty instead of pride, the youth will leave. Every time.
The Coming Question No One Wants to Answer
In 20 years:
- Today’s farmers will be 70.
- Today’s weavers will be retired or broken.
- Today’s youth will be managers, coders, delivery executives.
So the uncomfortable question is:
Who will feed India?
Who will clothe India?
Robots?
Imports?
Or will we finally realize — too late — that food is not an app feature.
Why Young People Are Leaving These Sectors
Let’s stop romanticizing.
They are leaving because:
- Income is unstable
One bad monsoon can destroy a year. - Debt is permanent
Loans renew faster than hope. - No social mobility
A farmer’s son remains a farmer’s son — until he runs away. - No dignity in policy
We praise farmers on TV and abandon them in budgets. - No future visibility
No clear path from small farmer to successful entrepreneur.
Same in handloom:
- No assured market
- Exploited by traders
- No branding
- No technology
- No growth ladder
So the young leave. Sensibly.
What Must Be Done — On Priority
Not in speeches.
In systems.
1. Farming Must Become a Respected Business, Not a Welfare Case
- Treat farmers as entrepreneurs, not beneficiaries.
- Easy access to credit without harassment.
- Income assurance, not just price support.
- Crop insurance that actually pays on time.
If farming remains a gamble, only the desperate will stay.
2. Create Visible Career Paths in Agriculture
A young person must be able to see:
- From farmer → agripreneur
- From small landholder → food brand owner
- From grower → exporter
Right now, agriculture has no ladder. Only a treadmill.
3. Technology Must Reach Villages, Not Just Conferences
- Precision farming
- Soil health tech
- Weather forecasting
- Market-linked platforms
Not pilot projects.
At scale.
In real fields.
4. Make Handloom Economically Viable, Not Just Emotionally Valuable
Handloom survives today on sympathy.
That is not a business model.
We need:
- Direct market access
- Fair pricing systems
- Digital traceability
- Brand ownership by weavers
If handloom doesn’t generate pride and profit, the next generation will choose Uber.
5. Education Must Include Agriculture and Craft as Modern Professions
Today, education teaches one thing clearly:
Success = leaving the village.
We must change that narrative.
Agriculture, food processing, textiles, rural tech — these must be seen as high-skill, high-impact careers, not last options.
The Brutal Truth
India is not facing a food shortage.
India is facing a farmer shortage in slow motion.
We are burning the human bridge that feeds us.
And here’s the irony:
We protect IT parks with policy.
We protect banks with bailouts.
We protect airlines with subsidies.
But we expect farmers and weavers to survive on faith.
Final Question
If the next generation refuses to farm…
If the next generation refuses to weave…
No amount of GDP will fill an empty plate.
So the real development question is not:
“How fast is India growing?”
It is:
Who will grow India’s food 20 years from now?
And what are we doing — today — to make sure that answer is not: No one.