Farming in India is a labour intensive activity. In spite of advancements in agricultural, dairy and poultry machinery, farming in India still remains a labour intensive activity. Organic farming is more dependent on labour than factory farming. All farming components like fields, crops, trees, cows, goats, sheep, hens, tractors, seeders, weeders, sprayers require a dedicated team of people to carry out specific farming activities.
Most farming activities may not require much skill but some require specific skill sets and a few require a license as well. For instance, milking a cow requires some amount of skill as otherwise you should be ready to take a kick from the cow. Using a tractor, one can do a lot of farm activities but however since it a motorized vehicle by definition, one has to have a license to operate it
There are no holidays on a farm. Whether a farm follows the factory farming system or organic farming system, it has to continue working 365 days. Cows, goats, hens and all other animals have to be fed, cleaned, milked and their sheds cleaned regardless of any festival holiday or Bandhs. People have to be present not only for 365 days but also day and nights. Therefore a strong and cohesive team is absolutely essential to make farming a success. Prior to the green revolution and the advent of nuclear families, farming was a collective effort. Each and every member within a family played a role in taking care of the fields and livestock. Generally men used to take care of the fields involving tilling and weeding and women will manage the dairy and poultry in a family. In most villages, there will be one family whose job it is to exclusively graze the cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep of all the households in a village. This collective effort kept the family and village healthy and rendered farming viable too.
To be absolutely certain of success in farming, you have to have a team of people who not only knows what needs to be done when but also the dedication and commitment to do it. Managing a farm and measuring the results in organic farming is next to impossible since the variables are wide ranging and standardization doesn’t work in organic farming practices. We at Paalaar Urban Farms have brought together a team of dedicated people to carry out the requisite tasks on our farms and to be candid, our search for more professional and dedicated personnel continues as we keep expanding.