Raghu and Gopal were two friends living in a village. Both were farmers, who farm rice, pulses, wheat, potato and vegetables in their small land just at the outskirts of their village.
Both have spent most of their life in the village, from school days, to getting married and having kids. Both their children studied in village school. Gopal sent his son to nearby town for higher studies while Raghu decided to keep his son near his village. It was cheaper and he could even help in his farm activities.

" Why don't you send your son Rakesh to Kanpur town, they have more teachers." Gopal told Raghu one day, as they were walking towards their field.
" Nah, I would rather have him at local college. He can travel in his bike and he can help me in farm." Raghu replied sheepishly.
" The world is changing, your boy can learn new things.' Gopal said, " I will send Aakash to the residential college in town, I have talked with Bank for a loan too."
" Why are you wasting money, it's difficult to get job in town." Raghu shared his concern.
" It's better for him to see new things,' Gopal said with a smile, ' If nothing works, he can always come back and join me.
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It had been 5 years since they sent their children to respective college. Rakesh had joined a local panchayat office as assistant while Aakash went for higher studies in the big city.

" Gopal, how is things going on?" Raghu said with a heartily laugh.
" Everything is good, I had my Cauliflower and Cucumber harvest coming next week. Have to prepare to send it to local market." Gopal said casually.
" Why are you wasting time in that?' Raghu said with a frown, ' Look, my son has brought these special seeds, we are farming cotton and my earning have tripled."

Sure enough, His son has brought GM ( Genetic modified) seeds and he had built a big house, with the extra money he earned last year.
" You should change into these crops, everyone in village is doing so." Raghu advised.
" I wanted to but Aakash had stopped me. He is studying in agricultural college and said most of these seeds are illegal and not followed proper government protocols.' Gopal replied,' Also, he said to protect these local seeds as they are valuable for soil in our field."
" Haah, these teaching don't work in real life. Look how I am earning so much. " Raghu dismissed his information.
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" Son, we should farm those cottons too, everyone is earning a lot with it." Gopal asked his son Aakash one day.
" No papa, cotton are of no value to us, we need to cultivate food as they are more important. Don't worry, I have trained in new methods and we will grow and profit more soon." Aakash assured him.

Aakash along with his father Gopal started permaculture method of farming and crop rotation. By connecting with different markets, they slowly started to make profits. Years later, they were earning in lakhs while the productivity of their counterparts were decreasing day by day.

"Gopal, how are you growing so much. We lost half of our cotton harvest this year. Nothing is working even after spending so much in fertilizers and pesticides." Raghu rued.
" I told you to believe me. My son had learned new things about farming from his college. Science is important these days,' Gopal continued, 'That's why I am reaping benefits now. You should join me."
" You were right, I should have listened to you."
Raghu said with a weary smile.
Both friends went back to their respective field.

© Dr. Manish Rout