Let’s Learn About Who Is A True “Agriculture Consultant” From Ms K Pooja, LinkedIn

As written in LinkedIn, here is what Ms K Pooja has to say, this particular message which I found via an email by friend consultant Pablito  M Villegas:

As an agriculture consultant, it's difficult to limit myself to just one area like permaculture, agroforestry, or market linkages, because the real issues farmers face (are) often not what they believe them to be. What they describe is usually a symptom, not the root cause. To truly help, I need to look at the entire system—soil, water, inputs, behavior, markets, and climate—as a whole.

– A farmer may say, "These fertilizers are not working" but the real issue might be poor soil biology due to years of chemical overuse.

– Or they say, "My profits are shrinking," when the underlying problem is market mismatch, post-harvest losses, or a lack of diversification and also high input costs.

– Sometimes, what looks like a pest issue may be a deeper agroecological imbalance or poor crop planning.

Not just this farmers approach(es) for waterlogging, energy efficiency etc as well.

They are farmers, they don't think of (those) as separate entities.

This exactly why the government schemes fail trying to implement one type of solution to all. Everyone grows same and market collapses. Diversity (bombs)!!!

It's important to have a 360-degree view rather (than) try to replace traditional ways with software and technology and call it “innovation.”

Most so-called "innovations" are often surface-level solutions—apps, dashboards, sensors, platforms—without addressing the deeper, systemic issues that farmers face on the ground. I have seen professional work in the same way: Pest problem? This pesticide. No water? We will develop drought resistant crops in lab.

Tech and science are only support(s) of the system, not the final solutions.

Real Innovation = Ground + Tech + People

The above words by Ms Pooja I found first in LinkedIn via a GMail letter from a friend, Mr Malabanan. I got interested more than just noticing the message when I saw Ms Pooja’s view about being a good agricultural consultant (above). In my 37 years working with people and groups as a one-man band in the documentation aspect of a project or initiative, I have never seen anything like a summary expression of what an “Agriculture Consultant” must discover for her client Farmer: Behavior, Inputs, Soil, Water, Markets and Climate – The works! I love you, Ms Pooja! (A compliment from someone who is married, 85 years old – and a continent away.)

If you do not approach your job as indicated by the above “Consultant” by Ms Pooja, you are not the best consultant you can be!

[No, I’m not in the same league as Ms Pooja – I am not an agricultural consultant but rather an editorial consultant (as you may glimpse from the title of the blog you are reading this on: “The Editor In Chief”).]

What Ms K. is saying is that as an agricultural consultant, you must have a deeper and wider angle view of the situation to be able to truly help.@517