Agrarian Business

    What a perfectly bad time to be alive? A time at which we cannot adjudge the probability of any living being be alive. A time at which we have the most powerful computers which try to churn out weather data, but are unable to do the same to for the last mile of the living beings on earth. We are in the midst of a pandemic. We exactly know where it started. We exactly know how it was spread. We exactly know how the people who had the initial information stay quite and plan for the future to make use of this scenario. We are seeing a different world structure. The "diplomacy" word has become so complicated. The world, is in shambles.

    On one side we have the government of a country go and attack the agriculture industry which is the bread and butter of the majority of its residents. Instead of modernizing the agrarian sector, the government is hell bent on bringing corporate to the sector. Am I an economist, am I an agriculturist, am I a diplomat? No, None of these. I am a living being and I require food to be alive. So, yes, I should be interested what is happening in this sector. I should be interested in as much as the issues regarding the shortage of computer chips which has bought many of the industries to a stand still. Do the corporate have the agrarian experience which this big country which once was one of biggest economic power, which induced many emperors to come here and collect back the gold which they had paid for the artistic and the agrarian produce this country has produced. 

    Our agrarian industry is in shambles. Modernization has not reached this industry. Modernization tried to teach them shortcuts instead of the best practices. Modernization has destroyed the top soil in such a way that no crop can be grown without any chemicals/fertilizers. Modernization has failed to incorporate the experience of our hardworking farmers of yester years. There are only a handful of farmers who are striving by continuing with the practices laid out by their forefathers. There have been instances of educated people from cities going back to their agrarian roots and try to bring back the practices by our farmers from previous generations combining them with modern replacements ensuring that the chemicals used are minimal and every crop taken out is sustainable. 

    Vast tracts of land have lost the capability to grow anything. These vast expanse of land is waiting for the adjacent cities to grow so that it encapsulates this area. With this, agricultural land becomes residential land. But, until then the farmer can till the land, yes? No. The youngsters in the are are impressed by others going to the city to earn every day money or monthly money which is absent in the agrarian setup which they have been accustomed to. They go and do menial job which does not require any brain processing. If the youngster is at his agricultural land, he has to study the soil, he should study the weather, he should study the market, he should be smart. And then after all this, he wants that daily/monthly money which he knows cannot happen now. But, if he strives it might happen in an year or two. But by that time he would have earned that money now. Why wait for a couple of years. He dont know the disadvantage of working under others. It will be too late for him to recognize the freedom he had if he had continued with his agrarian plans. 

    The new crop of farmers want their crop to just grow. If there are issues put more fertilizers, more issues, more pesticides. If that dont work, the run towards the cities and do menial jobs. Ethics have been lost on the producer and the consumer. The consumer wants to alienate himself from the hardship of the producer. The producer dont care about the ill effects of his practises until his produce gets sold.

    On one side we have one country making the industry fertile for corporations, on the other side, there are countries which have already done this. Even these countries are not left alone. The bigger corporations are ready to take it to the next level. There have been examples of big corporations buying large tracts of agricultural land in the midst of a pandemic. This shows that these bigger ones know something which the present corporations dont know. In the midst of a pandemic a medical speech recognition company is bought for 20 billions USD. A person who dont know the first letter in the medical field, talks about the next pandemic. A philanthropist, through his non profit arm, ensures that the not for profit vaccine is smoothly transitioned to a money making machine. 

    Combine all this with the lack of interest shown by farmers. You have corporations which will then sell us doctored food. Food grown and altered as per the region and the class it is being sold. Time will come where food also will be assumed to be made like electronic gadgets. People dont know the issues associated with mining the minerals necessary for their gadgets until they have their shiny gadgets every spring. It will be the same for food. The time is not far away, where there will be presentations made about super food v1. We will all eat it. And then in the next presentation we will be told about the problems in the v1 food and we will be told that super food v2 will resolve all the issues v1 created in your body and then some improvements(In fact the issues to be resolved in v3) and so on.

    The pandemic on hand is awesome. It is affecting only the 99.99% of the population. The 0.01% is not bothered. They are going about their business while all the business of the 99.99% have tanked. Deaths have become mere numbers. Rules and regulations have been played with like it is childs play. The 99.99% dont know to believe the pandemic or not. The thing is if they believe, they have to stay indoors, which again, they cant. They will not be able to survive for long. If they dont believe, they will be be-littled by the believers and will be blamed for anything happening to the believers. No deaths are being questioned. No deaths have been subjected to further analysis. Even if it is subjected to further analysis by another doctor, what is the guarantee that the other doctor will be doing an ethical job of it. Hospitals are running out of beds. They are running out of oxygen. Let us not talk about ventillators. When the entire government machinery is busy chalking out the strategy to win an election, instead of the pandemic on hand, we know something is wrong the world is being run. Those who are near and dear to any human being only will be able to tell the damage, the pandemic has done. Those who have struggled to breathe will only tell the pain the pandemic has inflicted on an individual.

    So, the pandemic originates somewhere and spreads miraculously without anybody's knowledge. In the times of human wanting to go to the moon/Mars, without understanding the planet which they have inhabited for their entire lifetime, is a joke. The human kind is at crossroads. There is talk of universal basic income for every human being on the planet for workers and people who want to just while away their life. If it is all about printing money and sending it to every individual on the planet, it is very easy. However, all these people are to be fed. So, universal income depends on food available in plenty. We want to device methods of farming with minimum amount of water, so that potable water left on the planet can be used for human consumption. All these ideas boil down to one fact. 

    The "agrarian" industry is the most crucial one for the continued existence of man kind. It has to be kept out of multinationals and be kept as a family run enterprise and should be free for any individual to take up. It should be one industry which does not need any approvals. Water and air also were supposed to be kept out of reach of multinationals. However, we have lost it. The strategy used by multinationals to reach this situation is dangerous. Spoil all the pristine and natural sources of water and air. Now sell the same polluted water and air by commercializing the process of cleaning the damage which they themselves are responsible. The "agrarian" industry is taking the same path. Pollute the soil, pollute the minds of the farmer. The consumer's mind is already spoilt, We can ignore him here. Now, buy off all the land(water and air already owned) and then you have the complete planet under your control. First remove all the ingredients from the food and then add what is required based on the geographical location/caste/creed/class. We are nearly there.

    Coming back, the covid tests are a joke. There have been no improvements in the testing procedure. There have been no advancements in the treatments. Everybody is behind the vaccine. Mars missions and moon missions have been planned and executed. I dont feel the world wants to know the problem on hand. It just wants to go about its regular duties as though there is no pandemic. We surely can do away with the Mars/Moon missions. They can wait. They can perfect their mathematics.

    What has all this got to do with agriculture? Well, every living being has to eat. Food has to be grown. All the packed food needs the output from a farmer. The time is closer wherein, the super store racks will not have any packaged foods. The raw material for any edible item has to come mother earth. All governments, please leave the agrarian economy as is. Compile the experiences of yester year farmers. Combine it with just enough tech to ensure that the procedure is 100% sustainable. Not any lesser percentage. It can be done. There have been instances wherein individuals incorporating these older procedures have succeeded. Identify them and empower them. Now.

    When governments huddle together and discuss how to efficiently increase the capacity of mortuaries so that people who are dead will have a speedy ritual, there is something wrong. In all this where does a farmer stand? Is he important? In fact, is food important? Should we eat to survive?  It is high time the government supports innovation in this field. It is high time, the individual farmers start planning. It is high time the young farmers who have understood this concept educate the others than to get highlighted and stay so at the expense of other failures.

The profession of Farming

           The profession closest to the elements of nature is of course, farming. Is the profession of farming menial? Can the world survive with no farming at all? Have we reached the position wherein the human necessities can be given in a pill? Does the human race want that? Well, the virtual living beings, the corporations would love such a situation. That would be total control. Let us come back to the profession of farming. Where does it fall in the continuum of the current professions. Is farming really a profession? Is Industrial farming the answer to all the problems faced by the present farming community. Why is it always farming community and IT profession? Why is it that a farmer is always left high and dry to the whims and fancies of natural elements. A farmer is something like air, water and fire. It is like the food grown by him is in excess as the other natural elements. But, food has to be grown. It is not available readily and in abundance.

          When will the farmer get his due? He uses fertilizers to get a good yield to make a profit, we call him un-ethical. He farms using organic practices we dont like the look of the produce and scoff at the cost of it. Now take the example of all other professions everything is right until the stockholders profit expectations are met and these expectations keep growing. Why does the farmer not worry about profits. Why is he alone in this? Why is he not formed into a corporation? Why because this model was tried and lead to bonded labor. Farming is hard work and corporations cannot bear it if farming is given the proper identification as a "Industry". Farming is labor intensive and involves plenty of risks until you grow "cash" crops. Farming is a high risk profession. The factors which go against a good yield is mind boggling. I cannot list it here. But, then, you will ask me whether sweepers/toiler cleaners are menial jobs. Well, no job is menial. But, in these cases, there is a necessity and opportunity available. The risk will only be reduction in salaries but, salary is available and cleaning is a must and has to continue. The earnings are definitely menial. But, the risk to get the stipulated salary is nothing compared to what might happen to a farmer.

          Will the solution be consolidation of farms and mechanization? The US is a fine example. But, the employment opportunities in such a setup is minimal and seasonal. If there are 100 people in a village small tracts of land was providing employment opportunities for all the 100. Now if it is consolidated, maybe a couple will get jobs and the remaining 98 have to be accommodated in other professions. That is one side of the story. These farming corporations will only grow what will yield the maximum profits irrespective what is the requirements. Here again the corporations might have hidden deals wherein every group in a particular state would grow a specific type of crop so that there is no duplication. This appears to be economically viable but, what about the people whose livelihoods have now been lost. They have their homes in their villages but they cannot stay there since there is no employment. Now, they would come out of their villages. How about employment and housing for these displaced farmers. In our country farmers displaced for construction of dams(tip of the iceberg) are living on pavements in towns and cities lacking any other professional knowledge and already heavily crowded lower level employments.

               There have been reverse migration of highly educated and plenty earned professionals going back to village and be close to the elements. This is not solving any issues. They are just buying huge swaths of land, barricading them and employing helpers from the villages, who again are the same farmers who sold their lands. These are small corporations. If they really need to be near to the elements, then there is one more element, the human element. They should first get close to that element. Instead of buying up huge swaths of land, they should perform the role of advisors and try to improve their knowledge about their professions and improve their profitability and survival prospects.

          The world may look down upon our country for the caste system. But, the roots of the caste system is societal/economic and later brought under political strategy. The world has always been following the varna system and has been following to this day. How one profession is better and high paying than the other, is nothing but the varna system taken for granted.

But, it is high time the single farmer is given his due.
  

Money, money, money

        What is it about money? How much of it is necessary. How much is enough. How much is bad. How much is good. Does it depend on the individual and his place in the society. Does it depend on the money an individual is already having. Is money the means of consumerism. Is money the mother of all evils. Is the burning man which rejects money and brings back the barter system the answer to all the evils of money. Does barter bring about equality among people. Does barter reduce the rich and the super rich. Will people start honoring relations and human emotions if money is taken out of the equation. Will the removal of money bring in Anarchism which is supposed to mimic the "ultimate order" in chaos. Is money the first aspect of blinding of logic of humans resulting from emotions.

        Actually what does money bring to the table of human society. At the last mile of human society, majority of human emotions are expressed w.r.t money. It can be giving voluntarily, taking by force, taking without the knowledge of the present owner. Happiness, boredom, anger, love, time for love, condition for love, maintaining relations all change at the drop of a hat with change in the money holding power of the individual. Are human relations still strong enough to transcend the issues arising out of the effects of money on the same relations. Is money akin to God. If somebody has all the money in the world, would he have seen god. Since God is supposed to be everything. Is money greater than all the dark energy in the universe since money is what is required to research and find out about dark energy. 

         You are telling me that a genius might be born who would start spurting out all the details regarding the dark energy in the universe. But you forgot that he has to be born and he has to be bought up to this level. At least up to the time he can talk. There can be another option wherein god himself surfaces and shows us the dark matter of the universe Is money and Economics the greatest science of all time. Since this is what allows us to carry out science. If the journey is more valuable than the destination then money and its study is the most valuable study of all time. Should we commit more resources to concentrate more on this path than the destination. But there is a catch. If science is the destination of all the money based activities the path we have been discussing about is limited by the state of science. If this path has to extend then we have to extend the state of science. 

         Majority of investment from the biggest investors is towards this only. The extension of this path again re-iterates the importance of money. It is a chicken egg situation and cannot be solved that easily. Normally both have gone hand in hand and continue to do so. The rate at which the path is lengthening is greater in the modern times and so are the complications of money based issues. The human race is submerged in this path and its destination. Well I have asked enough questions. Are they related. In fact what is this post about. Is it about the human race, the human relationships, Is it about science or economics. Is it about behavioral theory which has found its way into economics as well as science. 

         How will humans battle the science and economics and maintain sanity in relationships and feelings. So humans changing their relations and their feelings according to the economic models and advancement of science a given. Does it remain same even in and anarchic setup. Why is there no study regarding anarchy. There have been many writings regarding this topic but never practiced in reality. The burning man which tries to do it is a capital intensive arrangement carried out by capitalists. Will humans start valuing relations/feelings more in an anarchic setup. If every man has a purpose will the it change in a capital setup or remains the same in anarchic setup. Money, the end of older relationships, beginning of newer ones, starting bitter ones, starting sweeter ones all in the name of increasing the amount of money. This is the present model of the human setup. Can this model be changed. Are there better models negating the use of money. Are there better models wherein an individual does not think that increasing what he has is the only way to be happy.

Bring on the beta of AI

Majority of the mundane tasks done by consultants and tellers have been outsourced to the customers themselves. Let us take an example of replacing your washing machine. You have to start with the reviews of the various companies in the industry, their customer support, plethora of models, price, features and ...... Then you finalize by comparing various by discussing with friends and other customers. Then you decide where to buy by visiting various websites. By the time you make the decision you will not know how much time you have spent in buying the washing machine.

The above example is just a tip of the iceberg. The iceberg of activities outsourced to the customers themselves. Now, I believe we will have AI will debut in helping customers buy products and services. In fact it should not help, it should decide on the customers behalf. Not again curated links to various web pages. Why? Well that is as simple an AI can get and the amount of data available on buying habits and preferences are abundantly collected by search engines and social websites and blogs. Just imagine our preferences which are now embedded in search engines, apps, social networks, instagrams and the like..

The time we wake up, what time you leave your house, your vehicle, the breakfast we have, distance between your work spot and your home and everything in between up to the book we have been reading before we sleep, how many pages we average everyday and may be map our dreams based on the week day and the way our day was and also alter the dreams accordingly for a pleasant sleep.........

In the context of AI as the first step, the data sources of the following are crucial. In AI, the belief system is the most important link. The belief of the user who generates data in the mining company. The belief of the mining company in the user data generated regarding the authenticity of it. The belief is mutual and should not be compromised at any point by both the agencies. Coming back to the data sources
a. The personal data
b. Generic data available on the public web/sources(Like the mileage of a car)

The simplest AI would be to combine the personal data(to be mined from conversations, posts, comments, search history, buying pattern etc. This is to begin AI. Later as the user plugs in to the actual AI, data collection will be very specific and more to the point avoiding "assumptions" on the part of AI) and the generic data from public domain(information culled from official websites). Here again data integrity should be of the highest level.

The whole experience of buying should be hassle proof and painless. I start by telling the AI of my intent in buying a washing machine. Processing the personal and generic data majority of the decisions are be made and only when contradicting data is reached, user should be prompted. Here again, the prompts should not be beyond two, after which, the experience gets frustrating with the irritating prompts.

We definitely are now in position for the first step in AI. But, the innumerable protocols(open and sucking proprietary), the idiotic app ecosystem, wherein the data gets boxed, the plethora of operating systems and data integrity are the biggest issues combined with Internet connectivity across the world to the last mile. It is time all the data keepers start collaborating by providing API's to supply and share data among themselves for the purpose of AI. The race should be an open and fair one. The race should only benefit the customer. The race to be won by the best AI, not on the amount of data available with each other but by its capability to take decisions on behalf of the customer.

All this brings us to the biggest question regarding the biggest company  with the largest amount of data, Google/Alphabet. How will google/alphabet make money out of AI. Will it charge the customers like maintaining a personal assistant. Only few afford personal assistants. You have to push your personal assistant to the user and the way to do it is not charging the customer. How will google/alphabet make money here, when the user is not provided any web page to click? Will google/alphabet tweak the AI to take decisions based on the amount payed by the manufacturer, similar to improving page rankings. That is a failure when it comes to AI. It has to be fair. If it is not fair, people will ditch it for alternates. Now alternates would have learnt their lesson. How will google\alphabet make money? HOW?

Well, Google/Alphabet, I am looking at you. Bring the AI on. Bring it on. Bring on the beta. Let us start. From us being a product take us to what we are, Customers. We are the customers and we are not the product. This is the basic change you have got to do for succeeding in this AI endeavour. If you don't treat us as customers, your AI engine will be flawed. Keep us in the God's place and make AI our slave. Will you?