India, Oct. 17 -- The country is getting ready for Diwali with lights illuminating homes, markets bustling with record sales and global e-commerce giants accelerating their Indian appeal. Diwali, the celebration of light over darkness and prosperity over hardship, is a celebration rooted in India's agrarian heritage. For centuries, Diwali has marked the time when farmers across much of India rejoice in the completion of harvest, offering gratitude to the land, the rain, the cattle, and the deities that bless them with abundance. India's cultural calendar has always been synchronised with its agricultural cycles. Diwali coincides with the kharif harvest. Close to 60% of India's food production is done in this season when paddy, pulses, cotton, sugarcane, and oilseeds are brought home after months of toil. For millions of farmers, the festival symbolises prosperity and economic security. In Gujarat and parts of western India, Diwali also marks the end of the financial year for traders and farmers alike - a fitting symbol of how agriculture, economy, and culture were once inseparable. The lighting of lamps in villages once symbolised the light of a new agricultural year - the hope of a better season to come. Families prayed for rains, fertility of soil, and above all, fair prices in mandis. Diwali, in essence, was a farmer's festival long before it became a consumerist celebration of wealth and gifting especially in urban India. This cyclical harmony between festival and harvest is now under strain. The Indian monsoon - the backbone of agriculture - has become increasingly erratic. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the frequency of extreme rainfall events has risen by nearly 75% over the last three decades, while spatial distribution has become more uneven. Delayed monsoons, mid-season droughts, and late floods have altered sowing and harvesting timelines. The climate crisis is disrupting the cropping and harvesting cycles that culminates in the celebrations. Unpredictable monsoons, delayed sowing, erratic rainfall, and untimely floods or droughts have shifted the timing and success of harvests. In many parts of India, including this year, farmers no longer reap their crops in sync with Diwali. What was once a season of joy and abundance is increasingly becoming one of anxiety and uncertainty and delayed harvest. A changing climate means that while the festival date remains fixed by the lunar calendar, the harvest no longer does. The soil's fertility, crop yields, and even the quality of produce have become unpredictable. This disconnect between nature's rhythm and cultural traditions is not merely symbolic - it reflects the deeper instability of the agrarian economy. A successful harvest alone no longer guarantees prosperity for farmers. The true Diwali moment for India's agrarian community comes when the fruits of their labour fetch fair prices in the market. The gap between the harvest and the market - between production and price realisation - determines prosperity and thus its celebrations as Diwali. Good yields are a means to an end. Even when yields are good, farmers often face distress sales due to low or fluctuating prices, weak storage and processing infrastructure, and market inefficiencies. The absence of timely access to markets or transparent price discovery systems often means that farmers cannot capitalise on their produce. For them, the celebration of wealth that Diwali symbolises remains incomplete until the harvest is matched by fair value. In an era of changing climate and volatile markets, ensuring farmers' access to markets, credit, and information has become as important as ensuring a good monsoon. Digital marketplaces, farmer-producer organisations, and better agri-infrastructure can help bridge this gap. Platforms like eNAM and private agri-market apps are already reaching over 17 million farmers, enabling better price discovery and transparency. India's 10,000-plus FPOs, if well supported, can become the backbone of local agri-markets and rural entrepreneurship allowing farmers to realise the true worth of their produce and experience Diwali not just as a ritual, but as a real festival of prosperity. So, as India lights its diyas, it is worth remembering that Diwali began as a thanksgiving for the land's bounty. The most meaningful tribute we can offer is to ensure that every farmer's field glows with opportunity, every harvest finds a fair price, and the abundance of India's hard-earned food security translates to prosperity....