India’s agricultural crisis is no longer confined to crop failures, debt burdens or volatile market prices. A quieter but more consequential transformation is unfolding across rural India: farming is steadily losing its place as a respected profession. For decades, the image of upward mobility in rural India was simple. Parents worked the land so their children could leave it. A government job, an engineering degree, a nursing post in the Gulf, or an IT career in Bengaluru became symbols of success precisely because they offered an escape from the uncertainties of agriculture.

What was once a difficult occupation increasingly came to be viewed as an undesirable one. This shift is not merely cultural. It is deeply economic. Farming today combines the risks of entrepreneurship with the insecurity of informal labour. Income depends on monsoons, input costs, global commodity movements, transport disruptions and the behaviour of middlemen. Yet unlike entrepreneurs, farmers often lack capital buffers, insurance protection and pricing power. In such circumstances, it is entirely rational for families to encourage younger generations towards salaried employment. The consequences, however, extend beyond individual career........

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