What can we learn from India's farmer protests?

@PLAAS webinar starting now. Click below to watch (now or later) and follow #FarmersProtests

Most Indian farmers have less than 2 hectares! And depend on state-guaranteed prices for wheat & rice. This has been the foundation for smallholder agriculture for decades. It's this system which is under threat from new agricultural laws.

Siddharth Joshi, PhD #FarmersProtests

Restrictions on buying farmland by non-farmers and companies in Karnataka have been removed. These were meant to protect farming communities from dispossession by corporate interests. The squeeze on farmers means a crisis for rural people, says Joshi

#FarmersProtests

The 3 Indian farm laws that are being disputed are about removing regulation of farm product markets; removal of guaranteed farm prices; promotion of contract farming which would make farmers 'price-takers' from agribusiness.

#FarmersProtests

Dr. Vikram Singh (Joint Secretary, All India Agricultural Workers Union) says there are almost 300,000 protesters are on the streets, have been on the road for the past two and a half months. This is unprecedented, a mass movement that extends beyond a peasant movement.