Talks between Indian government and farmers rumble on

Indian government representatives, including the minister for agriculture, yesterday met for the seventh round of talks with farmer union officials to discuss agricultural market reform, with negotiations set to continue.

The talks are focused on the Indian government's plans to liberalise the agricultural industry.

Farmers want to repeal three laws passed in parliament — the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020, the Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020, and the Essential Commodities Amendment Act 2020.

The majority of farmers sell crops directly to the government under the minimum support price (MSP) procurement system, but farmers may have to sell their crops at market prices in some instances under the new legislation.

Tensions flared after the laws were passed, with farmers' protests continuing in Delhi, having run through December.

But the talks yesterday do not appear to have yielded any significant results. The government is committed to finding a solution on farmers' issues, Indian agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said. Discussions on the farm acts will be held with farmers' union officials from different states, the minister said.

Another round of talks has been set for 8 January.

Government seeks to calm tensions

The Modi government has sought to alleviate any fears that farmers may have regarding the new acts, with Tomar maintaining Delhi's commitment to raising farmers' incomes towards the end of last month.

Tomar said the MSP system is set to continue, highlighting the government's increased MSP crop purchases this year.

The government's annual 2020 review from the agriculture ministry highlights the raft of measures it has taken to enhance farmers' welfare in recent years. Among the most significant is an increase of the budget allocation for the agriculture department to up to 1.34 trillion rupees ($18bn), from Rs219.3bn in 2013-14, according to the review.

The review also notes a jump in payments to farmers under MSP purchases for harvested rice in the past five years to Rs4.95 trillion, up by 140pc in the previous five years from 2009-10. Wheat MSP purchases have also increased to Rs2.97 trillion, up by 77pc compared with the same period a year earlier. The government in September agreed to raise MSP prices across the board for the 2021-22 marketing year.

By Harry Minihan