Industry Odisha Bureau, Aug 18: The Samyukt Kisan Morcha has urgently urged lawmakers to oppose the India-US FTA proposal. The joint platform representing approximately five hundred farmer organisations demands scrapping of all existing trade agreements immediately. SKM argues that FTAs could significantly increase agricultural imports, eroding domestic farming viability substantially. The organisation wrote to all MPs and MLAs highlighting deep agrarian and economic distress affecting farmers. Agricultural imports remain central to farmers’ widest challenge against India’s trade liberalisation policies currently.
For farmers, concerns about FTAs extend far beyond tariff schedules or bilateral negotiation outcomes alone. The memorandum contends that greater agricultural imports would capture India’s domestic food processing markets substantially. SKM warns that expanded imports could fundamentally alter traditional Indian cropping patterns and systems. This potential shift raises critical questions about India’s agricultural self-reliance and national food security frameworks. The organisation views trade agreements as threats to both farm incomes and domestic production capacity.
Another major demand from SKM involves guaranteed income protection for agricultural producers nationwide. The organisation wants legislation ensuring minimum support prices recommended by the Swaminathan Commission specifically. Guaranteed procurement for all crops remains essential to farmer income security, SKM argues persuasively. This demand reflects broader concerns about agricultural viability in a liberalised global trading environment. Income protection mechanisms would provide farmers with pricing certainty amid international market volatility.
Rural indebtedness remains a critical issue driving SKM’s wider policy demands and activism overall. The organisation demands comprehensive loan waivers addressing the severe peasant and daily worker debt crisis. SKM seeks ₹25 lakh compensation for families of each peasant suicide victim specifically named. These demands reflect the genuine economic distress confronting India’s agricultural and rural working populations. Income support and debt relief constitute foundational demands within SKM’s broader reform agenda.
Beyond agricultural concerns, SKM raises significant demands regarding labour and rural employment protection measures. The organisation wants scrapping of the four new Labour Codes affecting rural workers substantially nationwide. A minimum wage of ₹31,000 for all workers would strengthen rural purchasing power and security. SKM demands MGNREGA restoration with two hundred workdays annually at ₹700 per day wages. These employment demands directly connect rural livelihoods to broader trade and agricultural policy frameworks.
SKM has also alleged that corporate control threatens India’s grain storage infrastructure fundamentally. The organisation claims Adani and Leap India have developed a duopoly in Food Corporation silos. According to SKM’s allegation, these two companies would control seventy-seven point five percent of grains. This concentration raises serious questions about supply chain autonomy and pricing power for Indian farmers. Corporate control of agricultural infrastructure represents another dimension of SKM’s self-reliance concerns nationwide.
The broader policy tension reflects competing visions of India’s agricultural future and rural development strategy. Trade liberalisation promises market access and efficiency gains through global supply chain integration processes. However, farmers argue that expanded agricultural imports could undermine domestic producer profitability and sustainability fundamentally. Food self-reliance traditionally requires protecting domestic agriculture from unmanageable import competition and price pressures. The trade policy debate ultimately centres on whether farmers can remain viable economic actors.
SKM’s multifaceted demands suggest that agricultural trade policy cannot be divorced from rural economic security. The organisation links FTAs directly to farmer incomes, food processing viability, and agricultural employment prospects. For India’s policymakers, reconciling trade liberalisation goals with farm sector protection remains exceptionally complex. The tensions revealed in SKM’s memorandum will likely shape India’s forthcoming trade and agricultural policy decisions significantly.
