Farmers gear up for another round of talks after almost week of protests

By Pratik Parija and Swati Gupta
 

Indian farmers will hold another round of talks with the government on Sunday to help end a dispute over crop prices after almost a week of protests by tens of thousands of growers in the north of the country.
 

The farmers have been massing at the Punjab-Haryana border since Feb. 12, prevented from marching toward Delhi by police barricades of barbed wire and metal barriers. Tear gas and water cannons have been used to disperse the crowds.

Farmer groups want guaranteed prices for their crops, which they say the government promised to consider after similar protests ended in 2021. They’re also demanding debt relief.

Talks with the government on Feb. 15 didn’t end the impasse and more talks were scheduled for Sunday. Farmer leaders said after Thursday’s meeting that both sides had agreed to continue peacefully as they work toward a solution. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is so far holding its ground against the farmers’ demands, wary of seeing a repeat of the protests of 2020 and 2021 that forced it to repeal agricultural reform laws. With elections just a few months away, Modi is in a strong position to return to office for a third term. 

India is the world’s second-largest grower of rice, wheat, sugar and cotton, and relies on hundreds of millions of small growers for these crops, each owning less than 2 hectares (5 acres) of land.

Over the years, the prices farmers earn at state-run wholesale markets for their crops have fallen short of their expectations. They complain that issues like collusion among traders and price manipulation have reduced profits. Erratic weather due to climate change has made the situation worse. 

Farmers argue that a minimum guaranteed price would lift their incomes and boost economic growth in the country. The government says price controls would be costly for its budget and could fuel inflation in a country where food makes up about half of India’s consumer price basket. Food inflation was 8.3 per cent in January.