I chose to write my article this year about the adoption of solar power in the Indian agriculture sector. I had done research on this topic before but it had gained an increased interest in my mind because what I had personally concluded after researching about the topic was that the sector needed crucial reforms that would overtime increase farm incomes and efficiency, both much needed in the current sector. I had imagined that explained with rationality such reforms would be welcomed and their short term pain be tolerated for the long term benefits. As Indian news would have it, my thought was proven wrong, Indian government introduced several reforms aimed at increasing efficiency in the markets that could provide potential economic benefits with some uncertainty, to my surprise these protests were met with massive protests and demonstrations opposing the reforms. Through my article I wanted to specifically explore the topic of reforming India’s agriculture to become solar powered, by changing the water pumps used for irrigation. My research had revealed that the biggest hurdle to the success of solar pumps was not cost or efficacy. It was the competition from substitutes like diesel pumps and electric pumps which were both subsidised by the government as well to reduce costs of production. The only way for solar pumps to succeed was for such subsidies to be removed, however such reforms would probably be equally unpopular and would not lead to a predicted success.

Another role I played in the magazine this year was in selling printed copies from last year this was something I was not familiar with and do not pride myself on as a particular skill, I am not much of a salesperson. I tried to sell what were essentially a bargain much to no awail. Upon further reflection i realised that this was due to the type of market we were targeting. It was no longer the parents at 3ways, happy to support a student initiative and pass time. We were marketing to school students and their cash. None of our magazines appeals worked, the content we were producing was not particularly exclusive and they could access similar stories online, for free, other than buying because my friends wrote this, not much incentive was left, as a result my sales were particularly less than the year before, consequently reflecting on how COVID-19 had also affected our current magazine.