"How is it possible to be a full-time farmer and make enough money?" asks C. Jeyabal. "See those men?" he points to a group under a banyan tree as we walk through his paddy fields in Tamil Nadu. "None of them can live off agriculture alone. One drives tractors, the other ferries construction materials on lorries, the third runs a bakery. And I work as a swimming instructor at a hotel in Madurai city, 25 kilometres from here."
Jeyabal’s farm in Nadumudalaikulam village of Madurai district is modest. He owns 1.5 acres, inherited from his father Chinnathevar, 75, and leases in two more. He harvests paddy thrice a year – a crop that’s always demanding and occasionally rewarding. He ploughs in Rs. 20,000 per acre but reaps little by way of profit. And for that, Jeyabal and his wife together toil at least 12 hours daily. Their takings work out to a paltry Rs. 9.25 per person, per hour, per acre. “Why should my sons want to do this work?” he asks.








