Blog

Growing up in Dubai, farming was never part of my everyday life. But it has always been part of my family’s story.

My grandparents have been farmers for as long as they can remember. My mum grew up on the family farm in Kerala, India surrounded by paddy fields and cattle. For me, however, the farm was somewhere I visited during our holidays every year. I remember sitting around the paddy fields, and how peaceful they felt, but I never really understood everything that happened behind them.

That has changed.

Now, working with agricultural clients at TAP, I find myself looking at farming through a completely different lens. Coming back to my family’s farm this time, I started noticing things I would never have recognised growing up, from different stages of crops to signs of crop health and the decisions that sit behind each part of the farming process.

It made me curious about what the farm looked like when my grandparents were my age, and just how much farming has changed since then.

At its largest, my grandparents’ farm was much bigger than it is today. Rice was the main crop and the main source of income for the family, alongside cattle, hens and the other parts of farm life that came with it.

My mum remembers going to school and then coming home to help on the farm. Sometimes that meant working in the fields; other times it meant collecting grass for the cattle or helping with whatever needed to be done. 

From people and bullocks to machines

One of the biggest changes my family remembers is how much farming used to depend on people.

During harvest, groups of women would come to help in the fields. My mum and grandparents would work alongside them, spending the day together before coming back for lunch, and sharing food. It wasn't just about getting the work done. There was a real sense of community around it.

When my grandparents started farming, bullocks were also used to till the fields, and much of the work was done by hand. Today, machinery has taken over many of these tasks, making farming much faster and reducing the reliance on manual labour.

For my grandparents, it isn't simply a story of old versus new. They have seen first-hand how machinery can make farming quicker and more efficient, while also changing the experience of working on the land.

What once took groups of people and long days in the fields can now be completed much faster with machinery. And as agricultural labour has become harder to find, machinery has become increasingly important.

Water has always been part of the farm

One thing that changed is access to water. A stream runs alongside the farm and has always been an important source of irrigation for the land. Unlike some farms that may have struggled with access to water, my grandparents have always had that natural source nearby.

The weather, however, has become something they notice differently. They remember years of significant flooding, including the devastating Kerala floods in 2018. More recently, they have experienced periods where the monsoon has felt much less predictable, with rain arriving in patches followed by periods with very little.

The farm's stream has continued to provide an important source of water, but the contrast between extreme rainfall and much drier periods has made changing weather patterns more noticeable.

A different kind of farming life

While technology has changed the way the farm operates, the biggest change may be the scale of the farm itself. 

As my grandparents have grown older, some of the land has been sold. The farm today is much smaller than the one they knew in their younger years. 

The people, practices and pace of farming have all evolved over the generations. 
Government support has also played a role. My family received seeds through government schemes in the past, and these schemes continue to support farmers today. Local agricultural services through the Krishi Bhavan had also provided support and resources when needed. 

So, while some things have disappeared, other forms of support have continued to evolve alongside farming itself.

A connection I didn't expect

I don't think I ever expected working in agriculture to bring me closer to my own family's history. 
I didn't grow up as a farmer, and I wouldn't claim to understand farming in the way my grandparents do. But working with agricultural businesses has given me a new appreciation for the people behind the industry.

Coming back to Kerala has made that connection even more personal. The paddy fields I remember from childhood are now something I look at with a completely different understanding. I can recognise stages of crops and think about what the farmer might need to consider next. I notice crop health issues that I simply wouldn't have spotted before.

It's a strange feeling to realise that something that has been part of your family for generations is something you are only beginning to understand properly now. The farm isn't just a place my grandparents worked. It's where my mum grew up, where my family built their lives, and where I've also started to see many of the same agricultural themes that I encounter through my work at TAP.   
For me, coming home has been about more than revisiting a family farm.

It's been an opportunity to understand where part of my family's story began, and to see agriculture through a completely new set of eyes.