In September 2020, India passed the Farm Laws without any multi-stakeholder, multi-disciplinary consultations or parliamentary debates. There were sweeping protests across India against these laws, which favour private investment, unregulated markets, and contract farming, among other changes. Experts feel this will push commercially viable but intensive agriculture which will not favour the farmer or the environment. 

India is home to over 18,000 species of plants including, 160 crop species (with several thousands of varieties), 1,500 wild edible plant species, nearly 9,500 plant species of ethnobotanical and medicinal purposes. 

This podcast episode traces how India’s agrobiodiversity was destroyed and continues to be under threat. We look at alternatives and examine what ecologically sustainable farming looks like.
In this podcast episode, Mahima Jain reports from Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu on alternative models of farming that farmer organizations are promoting. 

Additional reading:

Agricultural Subsidies: Study Prepared for XV Finance Commission
Biodiversity in Farming, European Court of Auditors, May 2019
Assessing the sustainability of post-Green Revolution cereals in India
The impact of the Green Revolution on indigenous crops of India

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