Search

India's agricultural heartland, Punjab and Haryana, erupted in protest in 2020 against the new farm laws enacted by the Modi government. The farmer protest (i.e. Kisan Andolan), led by Sikh farmers, particularly young people, demanded the repeal of the laws. Notably, a significant number of elderly also participated, contributing to the protest's peaceful and enduring nature. This movement also witnessed a resurgence of Sikh identity, with popular culture, especially music, playing a crucial role in amplifying the protest's message across the country and outside world. This paper analyzes the factors behind the Sikh community's strong participation and how the involvement of popular music artists empowered the movement. Ultimately, the sustained protests led to the Indian government's withdrawal of the three farm laws in September 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of the Kisan movement during 2020-21 has been due to the unique character of the movement based on leadership not affiliated to any political party. This movement was able to mobilise different classes of farmers and also enlist the support of agricultural labourers and other sections of society. The secular, humanitarian and egalitarian nature of the movement provided it much needed strength and sustenance and saved it from the ideological slights of the government and the ruling party. The lack of partial non-implementation of the agreement by the Union Government has the potential for revival of the movement in the near future. This paper is an attempt to bring out the lessons of this movement both for the social movement as well as for the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The imposition of the Three Farm Laws by the union government of India in 2020 was intended to further corporate encroachment in agriculture. However, this resulted in an unprecedented resistance movement of farmers and workers. The union government of India eventually had to retreat, and the Three Farm Laws were repealed in 2021. In this article, we intend to briefly review with special reference to Punjab, the historical context of corporate encroachment into Indian agriculture, the unfolding of the resistance to this corporate encroachment, and a prognosis on the political economy of the neoliberal project in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government is involved in all conservation easement transactions--whether as authorizer, funder, or holder. These governmental roles often work in concert, but not always; there is potential for conflict between various entities involved in securing lands for long-term conservation outcomes. This Article explores these tensions and considers how understanding the various roles that government may play can help inform conservation practice and assist in the design of conservation easements that best leverage governmental involvement. To this end, Part I provides a general overview of conservation easements with a focus on working lands conservation easements. Part II examines the six specific roles that government can play with regard to conservation easements. Part III explores the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). Part III also explores the various stakeholders involved in working lands protection, how their priorities help to shape the legislative design of the ACEP and RCPP, and how these programs operate on the ground with an eye to the upcoming 2023/24 Farm Bill. Last, Part IV provides recommendations on how segmenting the government's various roles can help to mitigate conflict and evaluate how and what functions (and at what level) government should undertake versus private land trusts. As conservation easements continue to play an increasingly important role in land conservation efforts nationally, understanding the varied roles that government plays in these transactions can determine how this involvement should be structured to maximize the conservation benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The farmers' movement of 2020 - 2021 against three contentious farm laws and the corporatisation of Indian agriculture has been one of the largest in the history of post-independence India. These laws can be seen as part of the larger neoliberal policy of the right-wing dispensation that has already been applied to education, public health and other sectors (Kumar, 2022). While the movement has been widely celebrated for its unprecedented alliance of farm and trade unions, cultural and religious institutions, this article aims to study the extensive efforts that were undertaken by the farmer unions to educate the protestors: from the biweekly newspaper Trolley Times to the setting up of Nanak Hut library to opening a makeshift school at the protest site for the children of protesting farmers, creating a sense of political awareness and the effect it might have on the trajectory of substantive democracy in India. The first section will focus on radical approaches to learning, with emphasis upon Paulo Freire's conceptualisation of critical consciousness and key aspects of development education, contributing to the study of alternative, participative paradigms that focus on reflection and action toward social transformation. The second section will focus on tracing these ideas in the context of the Indian farmers' movement in 2020-21, and how community-based learning played a crucial role in creating a better sense of political awareness among the protestors. Educational processes in the forms of libraries and a makeshift school were linked to a plan of action towards greater social justice and equity. It also resonated with Freire's conceptualisation of conscientização by making the protesting farmers better aware of the structural social and economic inequalities that define their lived experiences and affect their community as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2018 United States Farm Bill has opened the possibility for farmers to increase their profits through hemp cultivation. The literature suggests hemp has the potential to replace soybeans in soybean–wheat double-cropping because hemp shares key attributes of soybeans as a rotation crop (profitability, potential as an energy crop, and maintenance of soil fertility). Nonetheless, due to a short history of hemp cultivation in the USA, it is difficult to predict a time series relationship between hemp, soybean, and wheat through conventional approaches. In this article, we use Bayesian time series models and data from Statistics Canada and the Alberta Agricultural and Rural Development Department to examine a time series relationship between hemp, wheat, and soybean acreage and therefore predict farmers' decision when hemp is a legal alternative agricultural commodity. Our results show evidence of complementary and substitution relationships for hemp–wheat and hemp–soybean, respectively. In addition, the results indicate a potential of hemp monoculture as a positive response to self-positive shock on hemp acreage that lasts for years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial agricultural practices have greatly increased food yields but cause significant harm to the environment and rural communities. Over half of the topsoil of the United States has been washed away in the past seventy years and an even higher percentage of the country's farmers have voluntarily left or been driven out of the profession. Wendell Berry, a celebrated author and farmer, is a staunch critic of industrial agriculture. His writings primarily concern healthy rural communities, sustainable agriculture, and the relationship between the two. Academics and policymakers alike have appreciated Berry's writings for their nostalgia and aesthetics, yet few readers have conducted legal treatments of or crafted policy in accordance with his work. This Note explains why there has been so little analysis and fills that gap, using Berry's writings as the basis of a framework for farm reform. This Note analyzes the values present in Berry's work and transmutes them into a cognizable policy framework. Part I examines the harms caused by industrial agriculture and shows how the current legalregulatory framework preserves and promotes an unworkable status quo. Part II introduces Berry and addresses issues in his thought that impede robust legal and policy analysis. Part III uses Berry's writings, supplemented by legal and political theories, to construct a policy framework designed to foster and utilize agrarian values. Part IV applies the framework to the Farm Bill and suggests several reforms for the bill's 2023 reauthorization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Catalana de Dret Ambiental is the property of Universitat Rovira I Virgili and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article describes the struggle to establish agricultural policy during the 1960s including policies put forth by the Kennedy administration, the debate over the wheat referendum, and the failure of the Department of Agriculture to garner support for restrictions on production.

In August 2020, thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, gathered on the outskirts of India's national capital, New Delhi, to protest the passage of three controversial "farm laws" perceived by these farmers as threats to their livelihoods and well-being. Though the farm laws would affect only a small percentage of India's farmers, over the next 16 months the protests attracted participation from across the country, cutting across class, caste, gender, and religious identities. While the proximate driver seemed to be the farmers' fear of losing legal protections against a collapse in the market price of their produce, broader economic, ecological, and social factors helped trigger the movement. The protestors employed several strategies that made their movement successful enough in pushing back against a hugely popular government to bring about a repeal of the laws the farmers objected to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture in India is unique, in terms of topography climate and size of landholdings being very small. Agriculture has been in focus for both positive and negative reasons. Despite liberalization to a more marketoriented economy in 1991, the agriculture sector continues to have policy distortions. The issues related to agriculture are complex in nature which require a balance between the market and the state. This needs addressing major long-term challenges from food security to natural resource sustainability, especially soil and water. The objective of the paper is to highlight some of the problems of Indian agriculture and policy response of the government. It also traces the trajectory of the farmers' agitation against the farm laws. After the repeal of farm laws, the question of reform in agriculture is paramount. The paper proposes a road map for agri-reforms. It is argued that more unified framework of analysis is needed for an effective agricultural policy. This paper may be helpful in the field of public policy particularly relating to agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flooding has become one form of disaster that has become both a national and global concern. In Ghana, flooding has become a yearly ritual, displacing many community members, destroying farmlands, and cutting off communities. The state institution mandated to coordinate and manage disasters is the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO). However, NADMO is always overwhelmed with the level of humanitarian assistance required by flood victims annually due to limited resources. Floods management in Ghana is largely reactionary and short-term, hence the need for long-term planning. The researchers therefore used both secondary and primary data to investigate the drivers and gaps in the existing flood management approaches. The findings showed that inadequate funding, non-enforcement of settlement and farming laws; unhealthy environmental practices and low investments in flood containment infrastructure were the drivers of the perennial floods in Ghana. The major gap identified was the over reliance on central government and development partners to finance flood preparedness, response and recovery interventions. These funding sources have always been inadequate and irregular. The study concluded with a recommendation to NADMO and other state agencies to adopt a long-term, holistic and locally driven approach to flood management in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In December 2021, following a year of sustained mass protests, farmers in India forced the repeal of three controversial Farm Laws that attempted to deregulate India's agricultural sector in service of corporate interests. Farmers feared that the laws would dismantle price supports for key crops, jeopardize their livelihoods, and facilitate a corporate takeover of India's agrarian economy. This Article situates India's historic farmer protests in the context of the country's longstanding agrarian crisis and the corporate capture of agriculture worldwide. I argue that the protests arose in response not only to the Farm Laws, but also to decades of state-sponsored ecological and economic violence that have relegated millions of Indian farmers to a state of precarity and desperation. I further argue that the protests hold key insights for social movements around the globe, and for the future of food in India and beyond. The Article analyzes the farmers' protests using a four-part paradigm to assess contemporary movements for social change: Roots, Resistance, Reform, and Reconstruction. In so doing, it makes several contributions to legal scholarship. First, it makes visible the lived realities of India's rural masses who have been left behind amidst the country's celebrated economic growth. Second, it reveals the many ways in which State violence manifests, and how that violence is mediated through agricultural policies. Third, it demonstrates the power of mass nonviolent resistance as a strategic tool to confront State violence. And fourth, it explores the tension between reform and revolution. I argue that the farmers' reformist demands do not sufficiently address the ecological harms and caste-based inequities that underpin India's agrarian crisis. But the movement's building of broad-based alliances across caste and class has opened the door to more transformative change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the outrage and the protests across the country we conducted a study on Farm laws and its impact on agriculture and farmers. The study was conducted on an online platform due to the ongoing pandemic. We asked the farmers about their opinion on the farm laws and also their families about their situation during the entire outrage and protests. Participants who gave their informed consent for participation answered the questions. Participants who actively participated and presented their opinion on the matter said that the entire situation could have been dealt in a better manner and that the GOI could have been more considerate of farmers and the bill could have been discussed properly before being passed in both the houses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The repeal of the Three Farm Laws by the Union Government of India is the first consequential setback to the neoliberal project in India after 2014. The struggle was largely carried out by peasants in alliance with workers. The Left in India played a decisive role in crafting this setback to the neoliberal project by working towards the building of a tendential working alliance between peasants and workers. The popular resistance that has been engendered by the upsurge of peasants and workers will need to nurture this alliance, renew its focus on combatting gender and caste oppression, and engage in an authentic effort to build solidarity among the various constituents of the democratic movement in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian Agrarian structure mainly comprises three classes namely, farmers (kisaan), middlemen (Arthiyas), and laborers (mazdur). Three farm laws were passed in September 2020, and it was stated by various experts that these farm laws would impact the current agrarian structure and this would introduce the big corporations into the agricultural sector, eliminate the middlemen from the structure, introduce private mandis besides the state controlled APMC mandi and make the farmers (who are the owners of the soil ) the tillers on their own land due to the introduction of contract farming. It was also alleged that these farm laws favor capitalists who are now eyeing the agricultural sector. This led to the historical kisaan Andolan with farmers of Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh playing a major role in the Andolan. This study aims to understand the potential impact of three farm laws on the current agrarian structure using the case study method. Structured interviews were conducted in five villages of Punjab and Haryana (the states from which played a major role in Andolan) across different castes like Sikh Jatts in Punjab and; Sainis, Rodes, Jatts in Haryana. Interviews of laborers were also conducted which included laborers from different castes like Baazigars, Dhanuk, Kevat, Yadavs, Kamat (only Baazigars were from Punjab others were migrant laborers). Middlemen were also interviewed. All three classes were interviewed as a remarkable unity was seen among the three classes during the Andolan. It was found that a sense of trust ran across the three classes and almost all of them were fearful that private players (big corporations) would enter the agricultural sector and the whole well-organized agrarian structure would collapse and the entry of private mandis will destroy the state-controlled mandis. This study also aims to understand why big corporations are eyeing the agricultural sector and what kind of profits they will be able to extract from the agricultural sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our article focuses on the farmers' protests, one of the longest sets of protests in independent India (September 2020 - December 2021). Indian farmers carried out an arduous protest movement on the borders of the nation's capital, New Delhi, against the three farm laws passed by the Parliament under the ruling right-wing government of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP). These laws, which claimed to liberalize India's agricultural markets and encourage contract farming, were perceived by farmers and farmer organizations as an attempt to corporatize Indian agriculture, threatening the farmers' livelihoods and autonomy. We examine three animative scenarios staged as part of their demands to repeal the farm laws- first, farmers' demonstrating in bitter cold - living in temporary tenements, sharing food and stories; second, the violent clashes that unfolded on January 26, 2021 eroding support for the movement; and finally, farm leader Tikait's emotional breakdown on national television, which infused fresh calls for solidarity and strength into the movement. We cite these events to draw attention to the embedded structures of inequality that pervade contemporary protests, rehearsing historical communitarian and democratic ethics in the present moment. We see these scenarios as offering an expansive vocabulary of dissent that must be accounted for in any contextual analysis of contemporary protests. We engage with questions of 'perceived' legitimacy to ask if there is an acceptable way of protesting. What motivates people to extend their support and solidarity? What determines the grounds of a movement's legitimacy: claims made, or the manner in which they are performed or perceived? We argue that legitimacy is not determined or shaped in or for perpetuity; it is constantly shifting, and its coordinates need analytical attentiveness and reinterpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Electric Power Automation Equipment / Dianli Zidonghua Shebei is the property of Electric Power Automation Equipment Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)