The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has stood firmly against the Centre’s proposal of a five-year contract farming for five crops, rejecting it alongside the Samyukt Kisan Morcha-Non Political (SKM-NP) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM). Criticizing what they perceive as misinterpretations by “experts” regarding the fiscal implications of legally guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops, the farmers’ union labeled such arguments as stemming from “the logic of corporate forces”.
Having been at the forefront of the farmers’ protest in 2020-2021, the SKM emphasized the importance of MSP, asserting that a lack of it would lead to a “human disaster”. They debunked claims suggesting that the government would need ₹11 lakh crore to provide MSP for all 23 crops, dismissing such assertions as baseless.
According to the SKM, legally guaranteed procurement does not necessitate direct payment by the government, but rather mandates that corporate entities share their profits with farmers by offering a remunerative price. They advocate for a collaborative approach involving governments, public sectors, producer cooperatives, and non-corporate private sectors to facilitate post-harvest operations, processing, storage, infrastructure development, and marketing.
The SKM underscored the urgency of addressing the agrarian crisis, characterizing the current situation in rural areas as a “huge human disaster” marked by poverty, unemployment, indebtedness, and price escalation. They emphasized the need to prioritize peasant agriculture, particularly staple food production such as paddy and wheat, by ensuring farmers receive fair incomes and by providing subsidies to reduce production costs.
Regarding crop diversification, the SKM expressed openness to the idea but cautioned against undermining staple food production, food security, and national sovereignty in the process.
In a call to action, the SKM urged all farmer organizations nationwide to join a mass protest scheduled for February 21, targeting the constituencies of BJP-NDA MPs. The protest aims to demand the implementation of an agreement signed by the Narendra Modi government with the SKM on December 9, 2021. The SKM stressed the government’s responsibility to fulfill the commitments made in the agreement, including the implementation of MSP@C2+50% for all crops with legally guaranteed procurement, as promised in the BJP manifesto of the 2014 general election.
