Revolutionary Conceptualization of Capitalist Farming

Capitalism is the ancient social arrangement that is still prevalent in many countries of the world, like the USA, Mexico, Italy, and France. It is an economic system that relies upon private ownership of land and other factors of production, and the agricultural practices are mainly done with the aim of gaining profit.

It is in contrast with the earlier traditional concept of farming, where the land, labor, and means of production are owned by the household. The earlier concept of capitalist farming was viewed as the exploitation of labor for the sake of earning profit.

Whereas in the socialistic pattern of society, the means of production are owned and operated by the state.

How to define capitalist farming?

In the real scenario of capitalist farming, the means of production, land, labor, and capital, are set on the market value. This process motivates the farmer to sell the produce at the set market doctrine only with the prime motive to earn profit, rather than for their individualistic utilization.

Here, cultivation is commoditized with the sole aim of gaining profit out of it. Here, the farmers primarily focus on the quantity rather than the quality. It is cultivated with the ideology of surplus value.

It is, however, even argued that capitalism has led to an increase in employment here; the workers are hired to operate the means of production, which in return procure an increase in the daily wages of workers.

Capitalist farming is an economic condition in which private individuals own and control property for their individual interest and set prices independently in the market, which serves the best in the community. This system has led to the occurrence of a strong middle-class section in the U.S.

SELF–SUSTAINED INDIVIDUALISTIC PATTERN OF FARMING:

It is viewed as an individualistic pattern of private ownership of resources and available inputs like land, capital, labor, and water supply related to different cooperatives. It is having an inclination towards profit mobility and is driven by market forces.

It can be seen with the stated example of a plantation in developing nations, which predominantly depends upon financial capital investment and organic inputs like chemical-free fertilizers, pesticides, and modernized techniques to enhance production.

TRANSITIONING TO A MODERNIZED FORM OF FARMING

Modern Western theorists believe in the profit motive purpose in this system of farming practices, where the means of production are accumulated in private hands, and there is no equitable distribution of resources. There is middle-manship in this kind of capitalist farming practice. This makes food less accessible to the poor section of the society, which at times leads to a decline in the quality of productivity.

Here, it has been felt that the bourgeoisie class or the capitalist class neglects the needs of the peasants; here, the profit is solely gained by the capitalist class. Here, the working class is riding in the driving seat politically, socially, and economically, and enjoying the riches of the goods of Mother Earth.

Whereas in the modern capitalist class, it is been argued that it's enhancing the scope for daily wage laborers and creating lucrative job opportunities for them by offering them scope to develop their skills and inputs, which is trying to equalize the gap in means of production.

COMMERCIALIZATION OF AGRICULTURE

In the commercial form of agricultural practices, the production is done for commercial purposes for sale in the market, rather than for self-consumption.

The surplus produce is needed for the marketization of agricultural products, as the concept of the surplus wasn’t that relevant; it was the social structure of the organization, but not the conscious entrepreneurship of the peasants, that determined the market design.

Farmers were forced to sell their produce at fixed prices to meet their revenue needs and earn the factors of production in market value.

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OVERVIEW

As we know, farming is a prominent aspect of India, and more than half of the population depends upon it. Here in capitalist farming, the farmer is the sole owner of his land. The main aim is profit-driven, and they are often channeled by individual entrepreneurs.

Due to the development of different policies, many developing countries have forged new conceptual frameworks which is transformative, from specifically rural, agrarian to predominantly urban, industrial, and capitalist. In capitalist influential agricultural practices, agriculture is being industrialized with the involvement of capital-intensive technology.

The economic dynamism is taking a revolutionary turn, and the ideal agro-based economy needs to be more equity-based and inclusive, where there is equal distribution of means of production and the worker gets an equal share of the produce that they are cultivating for commercial purposes.