India: Farmers launch nationwide strike over new laws

Farmer unions in India have called for a general strike over new agricultural laws that are aimed at liberalizing the industry. The nationwide shutdown comes a day before talks with the government.


Indian farmers called for a one-day nationwide strike on Tuesday after days of blockading New Delhi in a bid to force the government to repeal its new market-friendly farm laws.

Tuesday's strike, called Bharat Bandh, will see tens of thousands of farmers blocking key roads and rail lines across the country for several hours, affecting transport services and offices.

They have received support from railway workers, truck drivers and other unions, who will be joining them in the strike.

The farmers have emphasized that the strike will be a peaceful protest, and they will ensure that emergency services such as ambulances and fire brigades aren't affected.

"Our protest is peaceful, and we'll continue that way. Bharat Bandh is a symbolic protest to register our opposition. It is to show that we don't support some of the policies of the government," farmers' union leader Rakesh Tikait told reporters.

Read more: India farmers threaten Delhi blockade in protest of Modi's agriculture reforms

The strike comes after five rounds of talks between farmers' unions and the government failed. The sixth round of talks is scheduled for Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of farmers have camped near the border of New Delhi since November 27 to protest the new laws, blocking most of the entry points to the national capital.

The farmers have said they will not return home until the laws are repealed.

The Indian government issued an advisory to all states and union territories to boost security. Thousands of extra police personnel have been deployed in Delhi and neighboring states where farmers have been protesting for nearly two weeks.

VIDEO India: Farmers demand repeal of agricultural market reforms

What are the laws they are protesting?

In September, India's parliament passed three controversial agriculture bills aimed at liberalizing the country's farm sector. They were subsequently signed into law, sparking farmers' protests across the country.

The government argued that the new laws will give freedom to farmers to sell their produce outside regulated markets and enter into contracts with buyers at a pre-agreed price.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) insists that the laws will fetch better prices and free farmers from traditional middlemen who dominate the trade. The government hopes that its new policy will double farmers' income by 2022.

Farmers' associations say the legislation does not guarantee the acquisition of farm produce through state-run organizations that guarantee a minimum support price (MSP), thus leaving them at the mercy of corporations that are now expected to enter the country's troubled farming sector.

"We are fighting for our rights. We won't rest until we reach the capital and force the government to abolish these black laws,'' said Majhinder Singh Dhaliwal, a farmers' leader.

Opposition parties and even some allies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have called the laws anti-farmer and pro-corporation and called on the government to accept the farmers' demand to roll them back.

Protesters from the Left Front political party blocked railways in Kolkata

Domestic and international support for farmers

More than 15 opposition parties and many non-BJP-ruled state governments have backed the strikes. The government has accused Congress, the main opposition party, of opportunism.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Congress supported privatizing the agricultural sector but is now opposing it to gain favor with the farmers, an influential voting group.

The farmers have also received support internationally. Several US lawmakers have voiced their support for the ongoing protests.

"I stand in solidarity with the Punjabi farmers in India protesting for their livelihoods and protection from misguided, manipulative government regulations," Congressman Doug LaMalfa said on Monday.

"Punjabi farmers must be allowed to protest peacefully against their government without fear of violence," the Republican said in a tweet.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also reiterated his support of Indian farmers last week.

Trudeau released a Twitter video calling the police crackdown on the farmer protests "concerning" and saying they should be allowed to stage peaceful protests.

"Canada will always stand up for the right of peaceful protests anywhere around the world. And we are pleased to see moves towards de-escalation and dialogue," he told reporters in Ottawa.



INDIAN FARMERS CONTINUE PROTEST AGAINST NEW DELHI
Talks inconclusive
Farmers from the northern state of Punjab sit in protest at the border between Delhi and Haryana amid an ongoing deadlock with the national government.
PHOTOS 12345678

India’s farmers launch nationwide shutdown against new agricultural reform laws

Farmers have vowed to block major roads and rail lines across the country and have been given support by railway workers, truck drivers and teachers

They want laws they say will force produce prices down to be repealed, but which the government insist are necessary for agriculture’s long-term future


Agence France-Presse in New Delhi
Published:  8 Dec, 2020

Indian farmers threaten weeks of protests as talks with government continue

Indian farmers who have been blockading New Delhi on Tuesday launched a one-day, nationwide general strike to push their demands for the government to repeal reform laws opening up trade in agricultural produce.

Tens of thousands of farmers have been camped on the outskirts of the capital since November 27 

in protest at the laws in what has become one of the biggest challenges to the Hindu nationalist government since it won a second landslide election in 2019.

Farmers have vowed to block major roads and rail lines across the country for several hours and have been given support by railway workers, truck drivers, teachers and other unions.

Farmers react after police tried to stop them from entering New Delhi to protest against new farm laws on Monday. Photo: EPA

Authorities have put thousands of extra police on the streets in Delhi and boosted security in the rest of the country in a bid to head off any trouble.

Five rounds of talks have failed to narrow differences between farmers and ministers. The growing numbers of farmers and their supporters camped outside the capital say they will not go home until the laws are repealed.

The laws will allow farmers to sell their produce on the open market – including to supermarket chains – instead of being forced to sell through state-run organisations that guarantee a minimum price.

Farmers carry crops after harvesting a field on the outskirts of Kolkata earlier this month. The government insists reforms are necessary to give Indian agriculture a long-term future. Photo: AFP

Farmers say the industry will be taken over by major firms who will force prices down. The government insists the changes are necessary to give agriculture – still the backbone of the Indian economy – a long-term future.

The protests have already caused price rises for fruit and vegetables in Delhi because supplies are restricted.

Rakesh Tikait, a protest leader, said that people should not travel during the shutdown and all stores should close.

Thousands of Indian farmers protest against market reforms as government talks fail to ease anger

Balbir Singh Rajewal, another leader, said: “We want nothing less than a withdrawal of the new farm laws.”

The main opposition Congress party and about 15 other political groupings are backing the protest but the government has accused them of opportunism, rejecting measures that they had called for when in power.

The farmers are strongest in the north of the country, but even the government in the southern state of Karnataka suspended online school lessons for the day to show support.

Indian farmers vs Modi: protesters ‘ready to die’ in winter of discontent
4 Dec 2020


Top athletes including wrestler Kartar Singh, who won gold medals at the Asian Games in 1978 and 1986, said they would return national awards in protest at the laws.

Singh alongside hockey player Gurmail Singh – gold medallist at the 1980 Moscow Olympics – and former women’s hockey captain Rajbir Kaur tried to march on the presidential palace on Monday to hand back awards but were stopped by police.

A new round of talks on the disputed laws are to be held on Wednesday.

Farmers shout slogans next to a police barricade amid foggy condition during a nationwide general strike to protest against the recent agricultural reforms at the Delhi-Haryana state border in Singhu on December 8, 2020. (AFP)

India's protesting farmers set sights on key state election

Farmers vow to campaign against ruling party in 

next year’s state election in Uttar Pradesh

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Salimah Shivji · CBC News · Posted: Sep 20, 2021 

People shout slogans during a grand village council meeting as part of a farmers' protest against farm laws in Muzaffarnagar in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, on Sept. 5, 2021. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

The mission for the group of Indian farmers sitting in a makeshift tent at a protest camp near the Indian capital of New Delhi is crystal clear.

The farmers are huddled to reinvigorate their months-long fight against controversial new farming laws passed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government last year. 

Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party is "running scared and on the defensive," said Jasbir Kaur Natt, a member of the Tikri border action committee that plans local protests.

"We have decided that we will hurt the BJP and defeat them" at the polls in next year's state election in Uttar Pradesh, she said.

Kaur Natt is convinced of this after two events this month that have galvanized the farmers' protests following a lull in demonstrations while India was battling a devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring. 

Jasbir Kaur Natt, centre, discusses the next steps with fellow members of the Tikri action committee, which plans future protests. She calls a recent farmers’ rally a 'shot in the arm' for the protest against India’s new farming laws. (Salimah Shivji/CBC)

The first was a massive gathering that organizers called the largest since the protest movement began last November, which saw tens of thousands of farmers rally in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh. 

The predominantly agricultural state is India's most populous and has a state assembly election set for early next year — a fact that hasn't escaped the farmers, who are preparing for a battle. The state is controlled by the BJP.

"We'll intensify our protest by going to every single city and town of Uttar Pradesh to convey the message that Modi's government is anti-farmer," one of the more prominent union leaders, Rakesh Tikait, told the crowd gathered at Muzaffarnagar on Sept. 5. 

Farm leaders are also calling for a countrywide strike on Sept. 27, to draw more attention to their protest against the new laws.

A farmer sits on a tractor as he attends a grand village council meeting in Muzaffarnagar on Sept. 5, 2021. Farmers are an important voting bloc in the country, with slightly less than 60 per cent of Indians dependent on the agricultural sector to earn a living. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

For nearly 10 months, India's farmers have been fighting three new laws passed without consultation last year. The farmers say the laws will destroy livelihoods and leave smaller farmers vulnerable to being squeezed out by large corporations. 

The Indian government insists farmers will be better off under the new legislation, which loosens rules around how they can sell their goods. The government has also pledged to improve incomes, but farmers want the laws repealed. 

The sustained protests have created a tricky situation for the Modi government. Farmers are an important voting bloc in the country, with slightly less than 60 per cent of Indians dependent on the agricultural sector to earn a living. 

Demonstrations entrenched

Numerous rounds of talks between government officials and agricultural union leaders have failed to break the impasse and the demonstrations are now entrenched, with quasi-permanent protest camps still located at three locations that ring the Delhi national capital region They first materialized in late November 2020. 

The camps are a "well-oiled system," said Dalwinder Singh, a farmer from Haryana state who has been living at one of the sites for 10 months, only leaving occasionally to tend to his crops.

He sees it as his duty to stay at the site to promote the farmers' wider goal: to keep attention on the issue and pressure on the Indian government.

WATCH | India's farmers say they won't back down until new farming laws are repealed: 

India farmer’s have ramped up their protests after nearly a year, saying they won’t back down until new farming laws are repealed. They’re hoping to influence elections early next year in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state. 2:16

Singh was also at the second protest that has injected new energy into the farmers' movement this month: a sit-in that lasted several days outside a government office in Karnal, in Haryana state. 

The city was the site of a protest in August that turned violent, with police officers charging at protesters with their batons. Ten people were injured, but anger against the authorities intensified when a video went viral in which a government official is heard telling police officers to "smash the heads" of protesting farmers.   

"The fight for Karnal was very important," Singh told CBC News. "We had to prove a point." 

The farmers got what they wanted: an inquiry will look into what happened and the bureaucrat seen in the video has been placed on leave until the investigation's report is released.  

"We got justice," Singh said. "It's obviously given us a big boost." 

'A major factor'

For agricultural policy analyst Indra Shekhar Singh, what happened in Karnal is a "litmus test" of the potential the farmers have to disrupt local politics because of how quickly the state government gave in to the farmers' demands. 

With five months to go until the state election in Uttar Pradesh, he believes the farmers have both the time and the will to sway voters.

Farmers listen to union leaders speaking at the Tikri camp, near the border with India’s capital New Delhi, on Sept. 12, 2021. They’ve been camping in protest against the country’s controversial new farming laws since late November 2020. (Salimah Shivji/CBC)

"For the first time, farmers will be a major factor and a major pressure group in the elections in Uttar Pradesh," said Shekhar Singh, a commentator formerly with the National Seed Association of India. 

"There is a very high probability that the BJP will face a strong resistance." 

The resistance is building at the Tikri protest camp, where Kaur Natt couldn't keep the smile off her face as she looked back on the last few weeks. 

'A shot in the arm'

"The Muzaffarnagar [rally] was a shot in the arm," she said. 

"It is going to be 10 months since we have been sitting here," she said, while adding quickly that the farmers have the time and patience to keep at it. "One thing is clear: we will not budge until these laws are repealed." 

‘This is my life now,” says 90-year-old Mahender Sangar, who has been living at the Tikri protest site for five months in a small tent with nine others. (Salimah Shivji/CBC)

That same determination is what keeps 90-year old Mahender Sangar going. He now spends his days living in a tent with nine other people. 

• India's farmers' protests mark 100 days — here's what's happening now

• CBC EXPLAINS
  What's behind the farmers' protests that are blocking highways in India

"This is my life now," he told CBC. "You can't afford to insult the farmers the way this government has, so I've decided to make this my home until we win this fight."

UPDATE
India farmers protests: Thousands swarm Delhi against deregulation rules
By Julia Hollingsworth, Swati Gupta and Esha Mitra CNN

Tens of thousands of farmers have swarmed India's capital where they intend to camp out for weeks to protest new agricultural laws that they say could destroy their livelihoods.

© Biplov Bhuyan/Hindustan Times/Shutterstock 

Farmers congregate during day five of the protest against the new farm reform laws at Singhu border on November 30, 2020 in New Delhi, India.

Farmers from the nearby states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh began arriving by tractors and on foot at the outskirts of New Delhi last week, where they blocked roads and set up makeshift camps, according to protest leaders. Some slept on the road or in their tractors, and several places of worship offered protesters food.

Police attempted to block demonstrators from entering the city. They fired tear gas and water cannons Thursday and Friday after protesters pelted police officers with stones and damaged public property, according to Manoj Yadav, a senior police official from Haryana.

The farmers are protesting laws passed in September, which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says will give farmers more autonomy to set their own prices and sell directly to private businesses, such as supermarket chains.

But the move has infuriated India's farmers, who say that the new rules will leave them worse off by making it easier for corporates to exploit agricultural workers who make up more than half of India's 480 million-strong workforce, according to India's most recent Census in 2011.

According to Ashutosh Mishra, the media coordinator of protest organizer All India Kisan Sangharsh Committee, which represents around 200 farming unions, tens of thousands of demonstrators have gathered at each of New Delhi's three borders -- a line of protesters at one of the borders stretches for 30 kilometers (19 miles), he said.

Police have put up barriers and dug up roads to prevent protesters from coming into the city center to hold sit-ins. Mishra expects more farmers from around the country to join the protests in the coming days.

That's despite New Delhi being a hotspot for Covid-19 in a country that has already reported more than 9.4 million reported cases, the most in any country bar the United States.

"We are trying to be weary of Covid but we don't have an option -- it is a question of life and death," said Mukut Singh, the president of a farmers union in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, who is leading thousands in protest in his home state, and says he will join the protesters in Delhi later this week.

"We are the ones who have provided food, milk, vegetables when the whole country was in lockdown -- we were still toiling in the fields," he said. "It is the government who has put us at risk by introducing these laws during Covid."

What the protests are about

For decades, the Indian government has offered guaranteed prices to farmers for certain crops, providing long-term certainty that allows them to make investments for the next crop cycle

.

© Mayank Makhija/NurPhoto/Getty Images 

Security personnel deployed to stop farmers from entering the national capital during a protest against the Centre's new farm laws at Singhu border near Delhi, India on November 30, 2020.

Under the previous laws, farmers had to sell their goods at auction at their state's Agricultural Produce Market Committee, where they were guaranteed to get at least the government-agreed minimum price. There were restrictions on who could purchase at auction and prices were capped for essential commodities.

Modi's new laws dismantle the committee structure, allowing farmers to sell their goods to anyone for any price. Farmers have more freedom to do things such as sell direct to buyers and sell to other states.

Modi said increasing market competition would be a good thing as it fulfills farmers' demands for higher income and gives them new rights and opportunities.

© Biplov Bhuyan/Hindustan Times/Shutterstock

 Farmers prepare food during day five of protests over farm reform laws at Singhu border on November 30, 2020 in New Delhi, India.

"The farmers should get the advantage of a big and comprehensive market which opens our country to global markets," Modi said on Monday, as farmers protested in the capital. He hopes it will attract private investment into the agricultural industry, which has lagged as other parts of the country's economy have modernized.

But farmers argue that the rules could help big companies drive down prices. While farmers could sell crops at elevated prices if the demand is there, conversely, they could struggle to meet the minimum price in years when there is too much supply in the market.

Singh, the Uttar Pradesh farmer, said that removing the price guarantees will make life tougher for farmers.

"There is a lot of anger among farmers," he said. "We don't get even the minimum support price that is presently declared -- removing these protections and making it easier for corporates to enter will completely buy us out."


Why it's such a hot political issue

Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58% of India's 1.3 billion population, meaning farmers are the biggest voter block in the country.

That's made farming a central political issue, with farmers arguing for years to get the minimum guaranteed prices increased.

In a bid to win over farmers, Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said in its 2014 general election manifesto that all crop prices should be fixed at a minimum of 50% higher than the production costs. In 2016, Modi promised to boost the country's agriculture sector with a target of doubling the income of farmers by 2022.

Modi and his government continue to insist that they are supporting farmers.

He hailed the new laws as a "watershed moment" which will ensure a complete transformation of the agriculture sector. But besides calling the move long overdue, Modi has not said why he opted to introduce these measures during the pandemic, which has caused India to suffer its first recession in decades.

"The Indian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi has always stood in full commitment to resolving the problems faced by farmers and will continue to stand by them," said Narendra Singh Tomar, the Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare.

Tomar urged farmers to abandon their protests and instead discuss their issues with the government -- although so far, Modi has shown no sign of capitulating to protesters' demands.

© Manish Rajput/SOPA Images/Shutterstock 

Farmers gather near a police road block stopping them from marching to New Delhi during a demonstration on November 30, 2020.

NFU stands in solidarity with Indian farmers protesting new agricultural laws

DECEMBER 6, 2020
FOOD SOVEREIGNTY INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

The National Farmers Union stands in solidarity with farmers in India, who continue to protest new agricultural laws formally passed in September. This agriculture reform will effectively undermine the guaranteed prices farmers receive through government purchase of staple crops and open them up to exploitation by large corporations. Tens of thousands of Indian farmers are protesting, demanding that these reforms be rescinded or that a new law be introduced to guarantee them a minimum price for their crops. “We in Canada recognize the Indian farmers’ struggle as similar to our own struggle. We support them in their right to protest, and in their call for agriculture policy that supports the millions of smallholder farmers growing food in India,” said NFU President Katie Ward.


As shrinking net farm incomes reach a crisis level for farmers around the world and also in Canada, Canadian farmers understand the need for government regulation that works for farmers rather than for those who take profits at the expense of farmers. “We have experienced the dismantling of institutions that were vital to the bargaining power and, by extension, incomes of Canadian farmers,” said NFU Vice-President Stewart Wells, “For example the loss of the single desk marketing system for hogs in the 1990’s and more recently the destruction of the Canadian Wheat Board, among others.”

As a result of losing the single-desk marketing system for hogs, thousands of Canadian farmers could no longer raise hogs because they could not access the market without a contract. The intentional shift to corporate hog production has left that sector fully vertically integrated and dominated by only three meat processing corporations. Prices are regularly below the cost of the production. The industry is heavily dependent on government safety nets to ride out the highly volatile market. It is an industry now largely devoid of family farmers. The change in hog farming in Canada was swift and brutal for family farmers raising hogs – a direct result of agriculture policy aimed at assisting corporations instead of farmers.


While the circumstances of Indian farmers are vastly different than Canadian farmers in many ways, it is clear that agricultural policies that serve to undercut farmers’ livelihoods to make room for large corporations to profit will have devastating consequences for the millions of smallholder farmers and their families.

India’s food security is threatened, as the new laws will shift its agricultural economy from “food production” for people to “commodity production” for trade and export. Farmers take on more debt and risk in a system of contract farming. The new laws will lift the ban on hoarding food by corporate buyers, which will allow them to capitalize on ups and downs in production by price-gouging consumers during shortages and depressing prices to farmers in times of abundance.


“Farmers did not ask for this reform, and it is not in their interest. The impacts will be devastating and far-reaching. Canada’s NFU supports Indian farmers in their opposition to these reforms,” Ward stated, “We object to the suppression of democratic protest taking place in India this week. We stand with Indian farmers, and their right to protect their livelihoods by protesting the imposition of these unjust laws.”

-30-

Backgrounder to NFU statement in solidarity with Indian farmers

DECEMBER 8, 2020
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

Why are India’s farmers protesting?

India has 164 million farmers, and many have small farms where they grow food to feed themselves and sell locally to feed their communities. Over half of India’s workforce is involved in the agriculture sector. Hundreds of thousands of farmers are protesting impending changes that will result from three controversial laws. Farm leaders have been in talks with government, demanding that these laws be repealed. Tens of thousands of farmers are in New Delhi itself, and more camped out around the city, blocking entrances. Protests are occurring all across India, with the support of non-farmers in other sectors such as transport. On December 8, the farmers called for a peaceful national general strike in support of their demands.

New laws passed in September set to go into effect in December

In June 2020 the Indian Cabinet put forward three controversial agriculture reform bills in conjunction with its suite of COVID 19 measures. In September, these bills – The Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, The Essential Commodities Act (Amendment) Bill and Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill – were passed by the Indian Parliament in a rushed process, without allowing for extended debate or careful examination by a committee. The final vote was conducted by voice rather than ballot, making it impossible to have a clear count of the votes. The bills will become law once they are approved by President Ram Nath Kovind, which is expected to happen in December.
The Bills

The Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill – This bill allows for direct contracting between farmers and buyers prior to sowing, but does not require these contracts to be in writing, does not penalize companies that fail to register their contracts, and does not set a minimum price. The farmers can thus be left with no recourse if terms of the contracts are not fulfilled.

The Essential Commodities Act (Amendment) Bill – This bill removes all limits that have, until now, prevented companies from hoarding basic food items including cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onions, and potatoes, even in the event of war, famine or natural disaster. This change was made at the request of food processing and food exporting corporations.

Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill – This bill deregulates trade by allowing farmers to sell outside of their own state’s Agricultural Produce and Livestock Market Committee (APMC) markets, and prevents states from collecting fees from the markets to fund their operation. This will allow corporations to set up their own, unregulated markets.

Implications for farmers

Direct contracting increases the power of buyers. To reduce costs of obtaining supplies, companies will purchase from the largest farms and/or look for the lowest prices. This will lead to small farms no longer having access to any market. As small farmers are forced out, land holdings will become larger and more concentrated. Vertical integration of farms with processing companies will accelerate this process, as risks and debts are offloaded onto the least powerful in the value chain.

As small farmers lose their land or are no longer able to survive on lower, deregulated prices they will be forced to leave villages and move to cities, where employment is uncertain. Small farmers produce food for themselves and communities. By shifting from public markets to corporate buyers who operate nationally, food will move towards to larger markets. There will be less food available locally and it will be more expensive.

Allowing corporations to hoard food empowers them to buy up supplies at low prices when there is a good harvest. It shifts the public “strategic reserve” meant to buffer volatility and prevent hardship and instead creates private control of the food supply. Companies will be allowed to export hoarded food, even in the event of natural disaster, war or famine in India.
The new laws create a positive environment for consolidation of farmland, concentration of ownership in agricultural companies, greater control of markets and prices by large processors, retailers and exporters, and increased sales of commercial seed, chemical inputs such as fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides, and digital technology for data mining, surveillance and automation.

Which powerful corporations stand to gain?

Some of the same multinational food, agribusiness and technology companies active in Canada are also active in India: including Bayer, BASF, Dow Dupont, Nestle, Coca Cola, Pespsi, Amazon, IBM and Microsoft. Some of the large agribusiness corporations are also Indian, such as Tata, Bharat Group, Atul, and Nuziveedu Seeds.

Why does this matter to Canadians?

If allowed to go into effect, these laws will increase the power of the world’s largest agribusiness corporations. It will embolden them to demand similar changes in other countries. The ability of large corporations to force down prices to Indian farmers and to demand adherence to corporate priorities as a condition of making a living will affect farmers around the world.

As Canadians and fellow farmers we recognize the harm that the Indian laws will do to Indian farmers and their families. We want to live in a world where human lives are respected, where people can democratically shape their future together, carry forward their food cultures intact, and have hope that our children will be able to live well as farmers if and when they choose to.

We are stronger when we act together, whether it is by marketing our products or standing up for our rights.

Tractor rally: India farmers lead massive protest on Republic Day


Mon., January 25, 2021

Farmers say they want the government to roll back controversial farm reforms

Tens of thousands of protesting farmers have begun driving into capital Delhi on tractors on India's Republic Day.

They have been striking for months at the city's borders, demanding a roll back of recent market-friendly reforms.

They have been allowed to go ahead with the tractor rally on the condition that it will not disturb the official celebrations on Tuesday.

The government has offered to put the reforms on hold, but farmers say they want a repeal.

The rally was expected to begin from six entry points to Delhi and police barricaded all of them - farm groups were told to enter the city only after the Republic Day parade was over.

But farm groups at two different borders - Singhu and Tikri - have reportedly broken through barricades and and have begun their march, on foot and in tractors.

They have not been allowed in central Delhi where official celebrations are taking place. The annual parade involves armed forces showcasing their latest equipment and floats from several states presenting their culture on a national stage. The parade is shorter and more muted this year due to the pandemic.

Tractors carrying groups of farmers travelled to the city in the past few days, in addition to thousands that were already blocking several entrance points for more than a month.

How Narendra Modi misread the mood of India's angry farmers

India farmers: The viral image that defines a protest

Tuesday's rally is the latest episode in a months-long protest, one of the longest farmers' protest India has ever seen.

The laws, which seek to further open up agriculture to the free market, sparked protests even as they made their way through parliament in September. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party-led government defended the reforms, farmer groups likened them to a 'death warrant' that made them vulnerable to corporate companies.

The stand-off continued as tens of thousands of farmers from the northern states of Punjab and Haryana marched to Delhi in late November and began sit-ins at the border, many of which still continue.
What exactly do the laws propose?

Taken together, the laws loosen rules around sale, pricing and storage of farm produce - rules that have protected India's farmers from the free market for decades.

One of the biggest changes is that farmers will be allowed to sell their produce at a market price directly to private players - agricultural businesses, supermarket chains and online grocers.

More than 90% of India's farmers already sell their produce in the market - and only about 6% of them actually receive assured prices for their crops, guaranteed by the government.

Many farmers sell produce at large wholesale markets or mandis

But farmers are mainly concerned that this will eventually lead to the end of government-controlled wholesale markets (mandis) and assured prices, leaving them with no back-up option. That is, if they are not satisfied with the price offered by a private buyer, they cannot return to the mandi or use it as a bargaining chip during negotiations.

Most of the protesting farmers are from Punjab and Haryana, where the two biggest crops, wheat and rice, are still sold at assured prices in mandis.
Are these reforms necessary?

Most economists and experts agree that Indian agriculture desperately needs reform. But critics of the government say it failed to follow a consultative process and did not take farmers' unions into confidence before passing the laws.

For one, the bills were put to a hurried a voice vote in parliament, leaving little time for debate, which infuriated the opposition. And state governments, which play a crucial role in enacting such legislation, also appear to have been left out of the loop.

Hundreds of women farmers have joined the protests

Experts also point out that the reforms fail to take into account that agriculture still remains a mainstay in the Indian economy.

More than half of Indians work on farms, but the sector accounts for barely a sixth of the country's GDP. Declining productivity and a lack of modernisation have shrunk incomes and hobbled agriculture in India for decades. The government, meanwhile, provides farmers with generous subsidies, exempts them from income tax and crop insurance, guarantees a minimum price for 23 crops and regularly waives off debts.

"Now the government is saying, we will get out of the way, and asking us to deal directly with big businesses. But we didn't demand this in the first place! So why are they doing this to us?" Rakesh Vyas, a farmer, told BBC's Soutik Biswas recently.

Experts say any attempt to dismantle decades-old concessions must happen through dialogue because fear and suspicion will only derail the process.

Thousands of people are protesting with farmers in India. This is why you should care

Ramanpreet Kaur demonstrated on December 5 in Queens, New York and estimates around 150 others joined her.

By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN
 Fri December 11, 2020

(CNN)Farmers in India have reached a stalemate with the government over its proposed amendments to laws the farmers feel will ravage their livelihoods and create an opportunity for large, private companies to enter and exploit the entire agriculture sector.

The laws directly impact the farmers in India, but they could also have a significant impact to consumers globally, who rely on India for many key items such as turmeric, chili and ginger.
To fight against three laws passed in September, farmers from all across the country have been protesting for days just outside New Delhi -- despite the capital being a hotspot for Covid-19 in a country that has already reported more than 9.4 million cases.

More than half of India's working population comes from the agricultural sector, according to India's most recent Census in 2011. From 2018-2019, the average Indian farmer earned 10,329 rupees (about $140) per month, according to data from a Hindustan Times analysis. Of these 263.1 million workers, many solely rely on farming to put food on their own table and roof over their head.

Farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh arrived by tractors and on foot in New Delhi last month where they blocked roads and set up makeshift camps, according to protest leaders. Some slept on the road or in their tractors, and several places of worship offered protesters food.

Tens of thousands of farmers swarm India's capital to protest deregulation rules

VIDEO

Here's why tens of thousands of Indian farmers are protesting 01:51

It affects your pantry

The protests haven't been exclusive to India.

People around the world have been protesting to show support and stand with the farmers because the protests are about "the people who feed all of us" and their fair treatment, said Simran Jeet Singh, a scholar of religion and history currently teaching at Union Seminary and a Stephen M. Keller Term Member for the Council on Foreign Relations.

"The pandemic has shown us that there are two economies," he said. "Essential workers across the world are suffering. The farmers in India represent all of them, and their resistance to unjust legislation that privileges the uber-wealthy corporations is a resistance that speaks to so many of us all over the world."

India is the world's largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices -- producing about 68% of the world's spices, according to Spices Board India, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India.

In 2019, the top 10 importers of Indian spices were the US, China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Thailand, UK, UAE, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, data shows.

Items like pepper, cardamom, chilli, ginger, turmeric, coriander, cumin, garlic, curry powder and fennel are among the exports.

India is the leading exporter of Basmati rice and world's largest milk producer to the global market, according to India's Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, with the main production happening in states like Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi -- where the farmers are also protesting.

The country is also the world's second-largest producer of rice, wheat and other cereals, ranking second in fruits and vegetable production in the world just under China.
Herbs and medicine go hand-in-hand for those practicing homeopathy or Ayurveda, an ancient Hindu system of medicine based on the idea of balance within your body, built on the foundation of herbal treatment, yoga and breathing.

At times, ginger is served for arthritis and digestion, cinnamon to boost circulation and lower blood sugar, and fenugreek to fight infection -- all top exports of the country.

India is home to thousands of plants but 7,500 of them are known and used for medicinal uses, according to data from the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. The same data says approximately 25% of drugs are derived from plants.

It affects your closet
Chances are something in your closet was made in India -- and that's because India is the world's leading producer of cotton, surpassing China, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

"Although yields in India are well below the global average, cotton area in India dwarfs that of any other country, accounting for approximately 40 percent of the world total," the department said.

What do the laws say?

For decades, the Indian government has offered guaranteed prices to farmers for certain crops, creating a stable guide to make decisions and investments for the following crop cycle.
Under the previous laws, farmers had to sell their goods at an auction at their state's Agricultural Produce Market Committee. A government-agreed minimum price was set for items and the auction was regulated by restrictions on who could buy along with price caps on essentials.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the new laws give farmers a chance to decide their own prices and sell directly to private businesses, like grocery chains, cutting the middle man, who in this case, is the state's Agricultural Produce Market Committee.

Farmers argue Modi's new laws help big companies drive down prices. While farmers could sell crops at higher prices if the demand is there, conversely, they could struggle to meet the minimum price in years when there is too much supply in the market.

"In the past, when Indian agricultural workers have protested for fair prices and working conditions, the Indian government has responded with violent crackdowns that include documented torture, human rights abuses, and extrajudicial killings," Simran Singh said.
"It is critical that, in this moment of peaceful protest, we keep our eyes trained on India's response, and ensure that they do not again resort to repressive tactics as a way to thwart free speech and protest."

Voices on the ground

Police attempted to block demonstrators from entering New Delhi when protests first began -- they fired tear gas and water cannons, after protesters pelted police officers with stones and damaged public property, according to Manoj Yadav, a senior police official from Haryana.
From France, Germany, California, New York, Texas, Canada, Netherlands and London -- people have shown up in solidarity over the last two weeks.

As a Sikh Punjabi woman, the fight for Ramanpreet Kaur in New York is about her "grandparents and parents who have lived through so many hardships and kept the farming culture alive in our families to provide for us."

"Even if you don't feel a personal connection to India or the farmers out there like many of us do, as a human being who lives on earth you should be concerned about exploitation of the people who feed you everyday," she said.

Manveer Singh said he feels the impact of India's new laws all the way in Vancouver, Canada, through his cousins in Punjab who still farm today.

"The entire world should care about this issue, because in a globalized society we are all connected," he said. "Everything from turmeric to Basmati comes from Indian farmers."

Manveer Singh joined a demonstartion on December 5 outside the Indian consulate in downtown Vancouver.

"And above personal interests, we need to value human beings over corporations. That in itself is the central ethos of what has become one of the biggest protests in human history."

Rajbir Singh, from Amsterdam, said farming has always been the only way his family has made money -- and for some of them, it still is.

Protests in front of the Den Haag in front of the Indian Embassy on Tuesday, December 8.

"For me to see that all Indian farmers now indirectly have to work for these big corporations is unacceptable," he said. "That's why I am protesting and urge the rest of the farming communities in the world to stand with the Indian farmers."

What happens now and how to help

On Wednesday, Indian farmers rejected the government's proposed amendments, according to an Indian farmers union.

Darshan Pal, President of the Krantikari Kisan Union, a farmer's union said protests will intensify and farmers plan to block the highway between New Delhi to Jaipur, the capital of western Rajasthan state, on December 12, which will lead up to a nationwide protest by December 14, with calls to gather outside the regional offices of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Organizations like Khalsa Aid, an international humanitarian relief group, has a team on the ground working with protest organizers.

Sahaita, a volunteer-based humanitarian non-profit, is collecting monetary donations to help families affected.

And cultural clothing brands, like Reignfull and ZHK Designs, are donating profits from their merchandise and art to organizations focused on rendering aid.

CNN's Julia Hollingsworth, Swati Gupta, Esha Mitra and Manveena Suri contributed to this report.

Pepsi action against Gujarat potato farmers declared 'violation of public interest'

By Our Representative

Thursday, December 09, 2021

The Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Authority has accepted a farm activist’s Revocation Application, to revoke the varietal registration of Pepsico India Holding (PIH) on potato variety FL-2027.

Calling it a a precedent-setting judgement a joint note issued by several farmers' rights groups said, it means that anything that threatens farmers rights as contained in India's unique legislation is, and ought to be a matter of Public Interest. "This is a victory for farmers of India", it said.

PPV&FR in its virtual hearing accepted a plea for revocation of the PVP certificate granted to PepsiCo India Holding on the potato variety in India (FL-2027), on multiple grounds.

Grounds included are: that the grant of the certificate of registration has been based on incorrect information furnished by the applicant (Sec.34 (a)), that the certificate has been granted to a person not eligible for protection (Sec.34(b)), that the breeder did not provide the Registrar with such information, documents or material as required for registration (Sec.34 (c)), and that the grant of the certificate of registration is not in the public interest (Sec.34 (h)).

This means that Pepsico’s varietal intellectual property rights (IPR) as granted in a plant variety certificate in February 2016 will be taken back by the authority. The judgement brings to light the procedural gaps in the grant of PVCs. Importantly, farmers’ rights as contained in India’s Act and any attempt to harass and intimidate farmers have been considered as a matter of public interest, through this judgement.

The revocation application used specific clauses (Sec.34 (g)) in India's Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Act 2001 and argued that the IPR granted to Pepsico India on a potato variety was not as per provisions laid down for registration and was also against public interest. The revocation application was filed by farmer rights activist Kavitha Kuruganti, who said, the judgement is unprecedented in India's statutory history related to farmers' seed rights.

The revocation application was filed on June 11, 2019, and the authority took almost 30 months in arriving at this conclusion on Kuruganti's application. The company now has just about two months of the original registration time period left which was till January 31, 2022 (the registration certificate given to the company was renewable up to January 31, 2031, but now stands revoked).

The judgement sets a precedent for all seed and F&B corporations and other registrants to not only uphold, but also more importantly, not to transgress the legally granted farmers’ seed rights and freedoms in India, said Kuruganti.

“This judgement of the Authority is significant and historic. It upholds farmers’ seed freedoms as contained in Sec. 39 of the PPV&FR Act, which makes this sui generis law of India truly unique. The Authority’s acceptance of the Revocation Application, including on grounds of being against public interest, sends an important signal that farmers’ rights cannot be taken lightly by IPR-holders in the country", said Shalini Bhutani, legal researcher and IPR expert in agriculture and biodiversity.

"This should prevent further intimidation of farmers through vexatious IP lawsuits. The PPV&FR Act 2001 provides routine legal provisions for opposition to the IP registration at the time of grant of registration [Sec.21(3) read with Sec. 34]", Bhutani explained.

"The grounds for subsequent revocation include [Sec. 34(h)] that the grant of the certificate of registration is not in public interest; this is a fundamental safeguard for farmers’ inherent seed rights Sec.34 for Revocation of the IP protection has been reinforced by our law-makers in their wisdom keeping in mind that developments warranting intervention could happen after the grant of certificate of registration, requiring the said IP Registration to be revoked”, she added.

The civil society note said, in the current case, Pepsico India used the certificate that it got from the authority on FL-2027 potato variety to sue hapless and uninformed farmers in Gujarat in 2018 and 2019, basing its actions on a non-existent exclusive right that it claims to have obtained against Indian farmers also. The judgement of the authority also says this.

On the other hand, the Indian legislation is unambiguous that farmers have over-arching rights over what seed they can plant as well as what they are entitled to do with their produce from any variety, including seed of registered variety. The only condition is that they may not sell seed of protected varieties in a branded fashion, knowingly, the note continued.

Indian legislation is unambiguous: Farmers have over-arching rights over what seed they can plant and what they are entitled to do with their produce
Even here, an Indian farmer can claim innocent infringement if done unknowingly.

 Despite the law being this clear, Pepsico India harassed and intimidated farmers and sued them for exorbitant levels of alleged damages in 2018 and 2019. PIH also engaged detectives to entrap farmers and took secret video footage to build its cases, it added.
“It is a welcome development. With this judgement, the authority has chosen to uphold the legal rights granted to farmers and has decisively considered Pepsi’s actions against potato farmers in Gujarat as a violation of public interest. The Order today follows another responsible action that the Authority took several months ago, when it corrected the factual mistakes we pointed out in the FAQs document on their website", said Dr Suman Sahai of the Gene Campaign.

"We are happy with the result of this case filed with the Authority and feel proud to be instrumental in setting up the precedent that asserts farmers’ rights. We are thankful to the farm activists also", said Bipinbhai Patel, one of the farmers sued by PIH in 2019.

"We believe that the Authority and the Government have a responsibility to let every applicant and registrant under the PPV&FR Act know that their rights do not supersede farmers' rights. The registrants’ rights are limited to only production of a variety, and not production from a variety. Even when it comes to production of a variety, farmers have rights to produce seed and even sell seed of a protected variety provided it is unbranded", said Kapil Shah of the Kisan Beej Adhikar Manch.

"Companies should not think that they are at liberty to harass farmers -- we are watching, and will disallow any such mischief. For us, any intimidation and harassment of farmers is clearly a matter of public interest. We sincerely hope that the Authority will proactively put into place all measures and mechanisms possible to ensure that farmers' rights are not violated at any cost", asserted Kuruganti.

The interpretation of 'public interest' by the Authority today is very progressive. This is a victory for farmers in the country, especially of the potato farmers in Gujarat who strongly resisted Pepsi’s onslaught on their rights in 2019", she added.