Indian Farmers Come Together to Support Holistic Agriculture

In this Christmas Season, let's look to the farmers of India. They demonstrate the meaning of peace and freedom—and give us this season's hope.

by Heidi Stevenson

25 December 2010

Recent events have dampened hope in westerners who value freedom to manage their health and choose their foods, and who care about the environment that supports us all. From India comes a story of people who have come together in support of exactly these things. They have crossed cultural and language divides, have depended on the good will of strangers, and have successfully brought forth a message of Food, Farmers, and Freedom.

The Kisan Swaraj Yatra has been translated as the Farmers Freedom Tour and as the Rally for Farmers' Sovereignty. It started as the brainchild of the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), a network describing themselves in their position paper as:

...a network of individuals and organizations working to create an enabling environment for ecologically safe and economically viable sustainable agriculture. The Alliance is an effort to bring together practitioners, farmer organizations, researchers, policy makers and consumers onto a platform to promote successful experiences of sustainable agriculture for further scaling up and mainstreaming.

The Yatra, as they refer to their country-wide tour, has been joined by grassroots people and groups throughout India.

The Problems

The Indian government has allowed the worst of Agribusiness into their country, and with devastating results. The water table has virtually disappeared in some areas. Droughts are rampant. Farmers are forced to buy GM seeds that produce less than conventional seeds. The soil itself, which Indian farmers have traditionally nurtured into some of the world's richest, is being depleted to sterility. Farmers have taken to suicide in massive numbers. The numbers have reached into hundreds of thousands, and that counts only the men.

Methods

In the face of such disaster, one might have thought that violence would erupt. However, India is the land of Mahatma Gandhi. The ASHA set about a peaceful protest, using the date of Gandhi's 141^st birthday to start, 2 October 2010, and ending on 11 December 2010, the date of his memorial. They held rallies, discussions, and events throughout the nation. They were met by people from every walk of life, including governments.

The tour was both political and informational. In some villages, they found that hardly any farmers were saving their seed any longer. They discussed the disastrous effects of GM seeds. Rachna Aurora Verma, who took part in the campaign and wrote about it in India comes together for farmers, shares interesting anecdotes:

"The land is becoming sterile, the crop is drying up in the field this year”, said Sagam bhai of Village Lafavadar of the Taluta Panchayat area. "I don't have money to buy more fertilizers. We switched because all the leading farmers and the sahib log told us that it was better seed. We were told that the Bt seed was being distributed by the government. Now we don’t have any seed of our own."

Raju bhai, sarpanch of village Moehra said that earlier they needed one kilogram urea per acre of land but now even three bags were not enough to get the same yield of 5 quintal per acre. Further, the latest BT seeds, named B2 seeds, were sterile, he informed.

At village Lafavdar, Sagarbhai and his wife Jaya Ben offered to help the farmers with their seeds. Suddenly there were many who willingly vowed to switch at least a part of their holdings to organic agriculture. The non-availability of seeds is the only reason why we are stuck with BT Cotton, said one of them. Villagers of Bhoanda after long discussions with the Yatris and amongst themselves vowed to discontinue using BT seeds immediately.

The spreading of knowledge and the awareness of mutual support achieved wonders. Stories of accomplishments were passed on. The nature of the problems was clarified. Awareness of the higher returns and sustainability of organic farming was passed along. Hope that had been lost was rekindled, along with the new difficulties created by Monsanto's scorched earth policy.

Most important, though, was that the real farmers of India were united for the first time. They became aware of the fact that their problems weren't only local. They became a movement.

Goals

Lest anyone believe that the peaceful nature of the Yatra is indicative of a willingness to compromise, take note of the logo above. The lotus flower on the left—a symbol of creation in Hinduism—incorporates a clenched fist. This protest holds an iron-firm resolve.

The entire event was unrelentingly peaceful, yet there was never even a hint of compromise. They are entirely clear that their problems stem from the encroachment of Agribusiness. During the Yatra, they issued a report, Monsanto-ising Indian agriculture, with clear demands of government and documentation of the issue. They demand the "immediate scrapping of the government's partnership with Monsanto". The paper documents Monsanto's history of human rights violations, lies, and ommissions. It concludes:

Partnerships with corporations like Monsanto pose big questions on which side the governments are on – this is a company with a proven record of anti-people behaviour whether it is PCBs or Dioxins or other such corporate crimes...

it is also apparent that for Monsanto, this is a stepping stone for bringing in GM hybrid seeds in all these segments which will ensure markets both for Monsanto's chemicals and seeds. It appears that India is not learning any lessons either from the environmental health and environmental disaster that Punjab, the seat of intensive agriculture in India, is reeling under or learning positive lessons related to sustainable livelihoods...

[W]e question the notions of sovereignty that governments hold, especially in the area of Seed and Food, the notion of sustainable development and sustainable livelihoods of the most vulnerable in the country and demand that all governments concerned immediately cancel these public-private partnerships with corporations like Monsanto and instead, establish sustainable development programmes with the tribal farmers and others that they seek to benefit.

Achievements

• Petitions and memoranda were signed by the thousands and sent to the president, prime minister, other ministers, district collectors, and government officials.
• Government officials who had previously been contemptuous of the farmers thawed. At least one, Lt. Governor Dr. Iqbal Singh, endorsed policies to promote organic farming.
• The Farmers Welfare and Agriculture Development Minister of Madhya Pradesh endorsed the messages put out by Kisan Swaraj Yatra, and declared that his province would lead the way in saving farmers.
• Kerala reiterated its firm stand against the use of the highly toxic pesticide endosulfan.
• A Bangalore official, Dr Prabhu Malkarnekar, assured the Yatra that they would not do anymore GM trials.
• Religious leaders, supported and blessed the Yatris. There was active participation from cinematographers, poets, writers, journalists, teachers, doctors, scientists, and local politicians.
• Farmers, scientists, activists, consumers, and community leaders are now connected in the struggle.
• Financial support has come from a wide range of sources, including a journalist, a film maker, freedom fighters, and celebrities.
• The Yatra was widely filmed and covered by national television. The people of India are now informed about the problems inherent in Agribusiness.

In the end, they met with Sonia Gandhi, the daughter-in-law of former prime minister, Indira Gandhi. She is considered by Forbes to be one of the ten most powerful women in the world, and is the president of the Indian National Congress Party—the ruling party. Yatra representatives presented a memorandum signed by 25,000 people. Note that this was not an internet petition. It was hand carried and signed as they proceeded across the country.

According to the official ASHA blog, Gandhi assured them that "the Government will do its best to reduce the suffering of farmers and examine the proposals for a Kisan Swaraj policy put forward by ASHA."

This is, of course, only a beginning. But what a beginning! The farmers and people of India have come together. If they continue to stand against the evils of Monsanto and Agribusiness, how can they lose? They are, after all, the real power. They are the people.

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