*From Bob Klein:* *Destroy the family farmer: neoliberal/corporate/big bank dogma. That's why > we have so many poor people coming here to wash dishes. The elite want a > cut of everything; and since they don’t make shit from people growing and > selling vegetables. they've worked to kill the family farm. * >
> *That’s what NAFTA did to Mexico, and what free trade does overall. We > use GMOs to make cheap corn and soy. canola oil and sugar; and we use > sweetheart loans to corrupt the power structure of foreign countries, so > that the rich get even richer. and pass laws to further benefit the giant > corporations, while we sell them military hardware to protect themselves. * > > *Remember when Obama went to India > <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30930581> for a couple weeks? > He gave them nuclear shit; and now we have this “remonetization” in India. > Thus we keep poisoning the soil and food, making people sick, which makes > more money selling them a lot of shitty medicines.* > > *Because this global system is “efficient"—It makes money—we can't > criticize it, but must just sit back and see it as “a painful period of > transition” to a “modern distribution network” that will eventually provide > for “growth."* *Just get yourself on board the gravy train. Why not? * > > > https://www.asia-pacificresearch.com/indias-farmers-plan-mass-march-to-the-nations-parliament-as-agrarian-crisis-reaches-civilization-proportions/5628390 > > India’s Farmers Plan Mass March to the Nation’s Parliament as Agrarian > Crisis Reaches “Civilization Proportions” > By Colin Todhunter > <https://www.asia-pacificresearch.com/author/colin-todhunter> > Asia-Pacific Research, October 29, 2018 > Region: South Asia > <https://www.asia-pacificresearch.com/region/south-asia> > Theme: Society <https://www.asia-pacificresearch.com/theme/society> > > <https://www.asia-pacificresearch.com/indias-farmers-plan-mass-march-to-the-nations-parliament-as-agrarian-crisis-reaches-civilization-proportions/5628390#> > > > <https://www.asia-pacificresearch.com/indias-farmers-plan-mass-march-to-the-nations-parliament-as-agrarian-crisis-reaches-civilization-proportions/5628390?print=1> > 2 > 7 0 > > 9 > > *With over 800 million people, rural India is arguably the most > interesting and complex place on the planet. And yet it is also one of the > most neglected in terms of both investment and media coverage. Veteran > journalist and founder of the People’s Archive of Rural India P. Sainath > argues that the majority of Indians do not count to the nation’s media > <https://yourstory.com/2017/06/p-sainath-indian-media/>, which renders up > to 75 percent of the population ‘extinct’.* > > According to the Centre for Media Studies in Delhi, the five-year average > of agriculture reporting in an Indian national daily newspaper equals 0.61 > percent of news coverage, while village-level stories account for 0.17 > percent. For much of the media, whether print or TV, celebrity, IT, > movements on the stock exchange and the daily concerns of elite and urban > middle class dwellers are what count. > > Unlike the corporate media, the digital journalism platform the People’s > Archive of Rural India <https://ruralindiaonline.org/> has not only > documented the complexity and beauty of rural India but also its hardships > and the all too often heartbreaking personal stories that describe the > impacts of government policies which have devastated lives, livelihoods and > communities. > > Rural India is plagued by farmer suicides, child malnourishment, growing > unemployment, increased informalisation, indebtedness and an overall > collapse of agriculture. Those involved in farming and related activities > are being driven to migrate to cities to become cycle rickshaw drivers, > domestic servants, daily wage labourers and suchlike. > > Hundreds of thousands of farmers in India have taken their lives since > 1997 and many more are experiencing economic distress or have left farming as > a result of > <https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/new-evidence-of-suicide-epidemic-among-indias-marginalised-farmers> > debt, > a shift to (GM) cash crops and economic liberalisation. According to this > report > <https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/economy/why-india-needs-to-fight-for-food-security-at-wto-59310>, > the number of cultivators in India declined from 166 million to 146 > million between 2004 and 2011. Some 6,700 left farming each day. Between > 2015 and 2022 the number of cultivators is likely to decrease to around 127 > million. > > The core problems affecting agriculture centre upon the running down of > the sector for decades, the impact of deregulated markets and profiteering > corporations (Monsanto and its Bt cotton seeds being just one case in > point), increasing debt and lack of proper credit facilities, the > withdrawal of government support, spiralling input costs and the effects of > cheap, subsidised imports which depress farmers’ incomes. > > The root causes of India’s agrarian crisis have been well documented, not > least by policy analyst *Devinder Sharma > <https://www.grain.org/bulletin_board/entries/4993-agriculture-in-terrible-crisis-indian-farmers-are-struggling-to-survive>,* > who > says: > > “India is on fast track to bring agriculture under corporate control. > Amending the existing laws on land acquisition, water resources, seed, > fertilizer, pesticides and food processing, the government is in an > overdrive to usher in contract farming and encourage organized retail. This > is exactly as per the advice of the World Bank and the International > Monetary Fund as well as the international financial institutes.” > > From the geopolitical lending strategies of institutions like the World > Bank to the opening up of food and agriculture to foreign corporations via > WTO rules and the US-India Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture, there is > an ongoing strategy to displace the existing system of smallholder > cultivation and village-based food production with one suited to the > interests of global seed, pesticide, food processing and retail > corporations like Monsanto-Bayer, Cargill and Walmart. > > In outlining the nature of the agrarian crisis > <http://www.india-seminar.com/2009/595/595_p_sainath.htm>, P. > Sainath encapsulates the drive towards corporate farming in five words: > > “Predatory commercialization of the countryside.” He uses another five > words for the outcome (referring to the mass migration from rural India): > “The biggest displacement in history.” > > By deliberately making agriculture economically non-viable for smallholder > farmers (who form the backbone of food production in the country) the aim > is to lay the groundwork to fully incorporate India into a fundamentally > flawed and wholly exploitative > <https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/09/food-justice-violence-and-capitalism/> > global > food regime that is undermining the country’s food security and food > sovereignty as well as its health, soils, water supply and rural > communities. > > Rural India is in crisis. And with hundreds of millions destined to be > forced to migrate to cities if current policies persist, the suffering will > continue because the urban centres are not generating anything near the > required levels of employment to soak up those whose livelihoods are being > eradicated in the countryside. Jobless ‘growth’ haunts India > <https://www.firstpost.com/business/where-are-the-jobs-mr-modi-2731002.html>, > which is not helped by a global trend towards increasing automation and the > impacts of artificial intelligence. > *SNIP>* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. If you'd like to donate to News From Underground, please visit http://markcrispinmiller.com/donate - we appreciate your ongoing support. Ways to unsubscribe, 1) send a blank email to [email protected]. 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