Agriculture and New Farm Laws in India: A Study of Probable Impacts on Marginal and Small Farmers

Abstract

The insistent push towards privatisation of the agrarian sector is epitomised in the now repealed farm laws, and field data from thirteen Bhojpuri villages in Bihar, reveals that they would have further weakened the vulnerable position of marginal and small farmers. These laws would have enabled private traders and the corporate sector to manipulate the agriculture market in their favour. This article states that the new farm laws, rather than bringing about positive changes in agriculture, as proclaimed by the government, would aggravate rural conditions further and enhance the process of de-peasantisation.