The Kisan Swaraj Yatra, a countrywide rally of farmers questioning the corporatisation of rural farms, reached the city on Sunday morning from Ralegaon Siddhi after covering 20 states over 71 days.
The Kisan Swaraj Yatra, a countrywide rally of farmers questioning the corporatisation of rural farms, reached the city on Sunday morning from Ralegaon Siddhi after covering 20 states over 71 days. The rally has demanded an explanation on the socio-cultural, environmental and political ramifications of such rampant corporatisation. It has modelled itself after Gandhi’s Dandi March.
The march, that began on October 2 at Sabarmati, will end at Rajghat on December 11. Around 300 farmers are participating in this yatra. It is appealing to the Union government to find ways to control the domination of MultiNational Corporations (MNCs) over Indian agriculture, asking them to re-assess the impact of green revolution and encourage organic farming.
The yatris converged at the Jagdish Ajmera Sabhagraha at Grant Road on Sunday morning. Kavitha Kuruganti of the Kheti Virasat Mission and renowned natural farmer Bhaskar Save, presided over the gathering. “We want to provide livelihood and food security to small farmers. We also want to keep our soil, water and food healthy and pesticide-free,” said Kuruganti.
Several farmers from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab were present in the gathering. The march has been founded by the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA).
Issues discussed include seed sovereignty, land grab, climate change, food security, effect of genetically modified food and chemical pesticides, and the potential impact of the second Green Revolution being proposed in Eastern India. Farmers from Punjab bemoaned the untold human losses incurred post-Green Revolution. They also felt that the government should not ape Western infrastructure.
Yatris also discussed paddy-seed HMT, developed by farmers, which they believed was a healthy alternative to Genetically Modified (GM) crops. The yatra also found that farmers seldom prefer consuming the hybrid maize, although the yields are about 20-25% higher (in some places, farmers reported 1.5 times more yield).
The yatra also dubbed the government’s idea of reducing the rural farming populace to 6% as a recipe for disaster. They felt it would be the largest displacement in human history.
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