Why are thousands of Indian farmers protesting?- Recently enacted farm laws will free farmers from middlemen; farmers say they fear big corporations

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A set of three laws passed in September aims to deregulate India's enormous agriculture sector. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said they will "liberate" farmers from the tyranny of middlemen.

But many farmers fear that they stand to lose more than they could gain from the new regulations and that the main beneficiaries will be agricultural corporations with gargantuan financial firepower.

As a result, the farmers have taken to the streets in the biggest such protests in years.

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Firstly, they make it easier for farmers to bypass government-regulated markets (known locally as mandis) and sell produce directly to private buyers.

They can now enter into contracts with private companies, a practice known in India as contract farming, and sell across state borders.

The new regulations also allow traders to stockpile food. This is a shift away from prohibitions against hoarding, which could make it easier for traders to take advantage of rising prices, such as during a pandemic. Such practices were criminal offences under the old rules.

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A big one is that the new rules remove many of their safeguards. More than 86 percent of India's cultivated farmland is controlled by smallholder farmers who own less than two hectares (five acres) of land each. They fear that they just do not have enough bargaining power to get the kinds of prices they need for a decent standard of living when they negotiate to sell their produce to larger companies.

One of the new legal provisions says that to resolve disputes, farmers can seek out a so-called conciliation board, district-level administrative officers or an appellate authority. In other words, these cases will not go to a regular court.

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The new laws also do not make written contracts mandatory. So in the case of any violation of their terms, it can be very hard for a farmer to prove that he or she has been aggrieved, giving them little recourse.

Farmers have seen the costs of things like fertilisers and seeds shoot up over the years as those farming inputs are predominantly sold by the private sector.

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Why are thousands of Indian farmers protesting?

India’s PM says new farm laws will free farmers from bullying middlemen; farmers say they fear big corporations.

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