Why Agriculture Needs Young Minds?

About 1 billion people depends on Agriculture for their livelihood which means about 27 - 28 % people of total world population. Globally average age of farmer is 55 years old (Google)

So, why young people?

Youth is the most energetic and risk-taking period of life. A nation’s progress, prosperity and development depend on its young generation. Young people can learn easily. Young people do not fear to take challenge.  They easily accept new innovation. They enjoy taking risk. Whereas elderly people tend to remain in their comfort zone.  They prefer their established traditional farming.

But with change of the World Globalization and Industrialization the world is going through various changes. Between them Climate change is the most vulnerable one. Climate resilience variety has been developed to mitigate the problem. Young people can put a bridge between technology and agriculture. They can encourage other farmers by showing the yield success after adapting the technology.

 Young people tends to see farming as dirty, low-tech, poorly paid, and lacking status – the opposite of “modern work.” If governments are serious about luring the young to agriculture, they must sell its profitability, breadth, and scale. Presenting a convincing case will require policies that address the valid concerns underlying how young people view the sector. That means reforming land-tenure systems, mandating higher wages, and providing entrepreneurial support (Reimagining Agriculture for Young People. _{Author Maximo Torero}

The main reason of young people for not doing farming is the taboo of our society which is you need warranty of future. So, you must need a government job for secured future.  In 22^nd century it's really funny! Cause there is more to Agriculture than just tilling the soil.

However young generation are now greatly interested in farming. With the time jobs are now less in number than Jobseekers. Agriculture is a great opportunity for entrepreneurships and startups.

Young entrepreneurs are developing Hydroponics (allows crops to grow without water in a nutrient based solutions) and vertical farming system, Using of AI based plant disease detection app, Soil sensors, IoT, Machine learning and GIS and remote sensing in Agriculture, Drones, removing middleman by using different apps. They are selling fresh vegetables and fruits, dairy products, organic products through online platforms and social media. Young farmers are creating farm to table business which means direct farmers to consumers. Different kind of agro-based companies and startups has been developed by young mind. One of them is Sayed Zubair Hasan who is a Co-founder of Krishi Shawpno. His company empowers marginalized farmers with digital tools and data-driven market access, an initiative which helped him a prestigious spot on the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia List _{(Source-Google)}

In Africa 70% of their farmers are under 35 years old! In our country average age of farmer is 45-49 years _(Google) Still farming is not a feasible career. Government can come forward by providing subsidies for seeds, fertilizers, giving modern farming equipment, low-interest agricultural loan, free training programs on agriculture, most importantly crop insurance. By doing all these, agriculture may seem like a feasible career option to young minds. But still there are stories which can really encourage young people-Let’s take a look in this.


A 11-year-old girl of Thim Chori Government Girl’s School, Sadia Khanom was featured by World Food Programme (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Little Agriculturalist programme 2023. Through School gardening she learned Climate smart Farming, composting and nutrition practices. She had 63 students in her groups. Between them 47 were girl. The team maintained 40 sqm garden and they produce 48 kg pumpkin, Okra and Bottle gourd, Bitter gourd. The vegetables were distributed among the students' families. Source

Isn’t it fascinating and encouraging that a young little girl just 11 years old she is now working as a young advocate of her community for the production of sustainable agriculture.

This story shows how young minds are source of a healthier and sustainable future!