of farmers. -- good for farmers and in the interest of farmers.mers say that's what happened last time. they want a guarantee for a minimum price. that is why they are protesting now and why they say they will continue to do so until the government repeals these laws. meanwhile, the farmers have had some international support. the canadian prime minister, justin trudeau, has said that canada will always stand by the right of people to peacefully protest -- to protest peacefully. that is perhaps not surprising. canada has such a large population and more than half a million people are of punjabi dissent. but those comments were not welcomed in india. the foreign minister called them ill-informed and said canada should not be making comments about internal affairs -- about the internal affairs of a democracy. >> legislation changes the way farmers do business. currently, farmers are guaranteed a minimum price for their produce at wholesale markets. the new law allows them to sell directly to anyone. farmers fear big corporations will drive prices do

that is all farmers, small farmers, minority farmers, large-scale farmers, we all need a change. should how president-elect biden be thinking of an egg or culture pick? we have reported that he may be looking at vilsack closely. would he represent verbal farmers -- rural farmers? john: we had a tough time with sec. bill psych in the obama years. to take aad a chance look at agriculture and would like to do some things differently that he did not do before. i still think we need a new force in agriculture that will work with all farmers, farmers of color, large scale farmers, women farmers, hispanic, native american, women farmers. we need an agriculture secretary that wants to do that. what agriculture is missing right now is small scale farmers. we have not been receiving the usda.ts through there is not a real focus under this administration to help farmers like me. i am excited but still hopeful that the biden administration will tap an agriculture secretary that wants to bring about these changes that i've been talking about for such a long time. vonnie: representative marcia

the legislation changes the way farmers do business currently farmers a guaranteed a minimum price for their produce at wholesale markets the new law allows them to sell direct to anyone famous for big corporations could force prices down the law also allows private buyers to hoard essential commodities for future sales and farmers will be able to enter into direct contracts with private companies. let's bring in our guests in new delhi we have deeper senhor assistant professor of economics at university in delhi joining us from oxford is nikita sued associate professor of development studies at oxford department international development and pandey is an agriculture policy specialist and the former director of the institute for social and economic change and he joins us from bangalore and welcome to you all our us are i'll start with you if i may just give a quick brief rundown of what the main the most significant reforms the new laws will bring about. i would sit there and the new laws there are 3 laws yes one goes with the our commerce and the. it's called farmers' produce trade an

thousands of farmers. have the backing of. the legislation's interests the government says they are how does this deadlock. and the people of. are very welcome to. join us for almost a month now thousands of farmers in india have been camped just outside the capital protesting against the government of prime minister. farmers say 3 new agricultural laws passed in september make them worse off the government says the farmers are wrong these opposing views have led to a deadlock despite several rounds of negotiations between both sides. met these farmers for they view on what's at stake. weeks out in the winter called passions are still running high at this protest thousands of farmers have occupied this mean high rate of delhi with a simple ultimatum repeal the new farm laws or the vilsack put. it in the record has worked tirelessly at a free kitchen to thieve the protesting farmers. she sees the blockade as an opportunity she wants to teach her young daughters what it means to fight for the right of a member to. come here to s

for the past 3 weeks tens of thousands of indian farmers have been protesting against new ugly culture. they say the changes will have their livelihoods by making them vulnerable to big corporations but the government insists the regulation of the industry is badly needed police say at least 25 people have died several of them from cold weather as farmers continue to block highways and camp on the oscars of new delhi or friday. prime minister narendra modi offered to hold further talks as weeks of negotiations failed to reach a compromise modi says the farmers are being exploited by opposition parties which she says support of the new laws when they held government. i just want ease in the life of farmers i want their progress and want to modernity in the agriculture sector political parties should stop misguiding farm of it's been over 6 to 7 months since the farm laws were implemented but now suddenly games are being played to plough one's political land through a web of lies. elizabeth has the latest from the indian capital new delhi. prime minister modi said that everyone has been

and joining me for more now is david drucker he's a farmer himself and chairman of the christian farmers organization in india good to have you on the program now despite assurances from the government to the contrary farmers are still convinced that they will be watched sort of under the new farm laws why is that. so you areas governments over the last many many years in a bid to keep food inflation in control have artificially suppressed farm gate prices for years and literally for decades and now the majority of farmers who are not getting the short prices want to short answers for their produce while the few farmers who get a short prices are worried that they will lose the benefits now these fears are not unfounded in the run up to these 33 acts that have been formulated by by the parliament there have been many indications from government functionaries and government offices about limiting or doing away with support pricing mechanisms as they exist the c.a.c.p. which sets the support prices or the central bank the reserve bank of india or a union minister have all said and some wha

>> for instance, we just heard from the farmers association that half of farmers have not been able to [inaudible] if you look at how much nigeria has changed -- in the 60's we could say we were largely food secure. [inaudible] there is no resilience as well. we are talking about covid-19 being a major shock, and the banditry, which had been a problem from -- we are also hearing reports of bandits preventing farmers from going to their farms. >> i'm sorry to interrupt you. i do want to get back to that point about the bandits in just a couple minutes. let me move on right now. i want to ask about an attack that was carried out in a village in the northeast. this is an attack where dozens of farmers were killed. some reports say that it happened because farmers had reported boko haram's presidents -- presence to the nigerian army. do you know if that is the case? >> thank you for having me. one of the things we did hear -- one of them had been handed over to the nigerian military. because of that, they came to punish the farmers and they killed over 40 of them, slaughtered them. that is

protests farmers dinny charo so you are picking up on these stories these these protesters the farmers what do they want the farmers bills to actually go away it's got what they're asking yeah yeah absolutely they've had many different talks with the government now and the government you know said that it's made amendments to these laws which they're not happy with but they're saying that nothing short of repealing these laws will do and that's because they see these laws as an existential threat to their livelihoods and the agriculture sector in india has been in crisis for decades for a number of reasons just one of them is very high indebtedness by pharmacy farmers are in a lot of debt and they think that these laws will see the end of guaranteed minimum prices for their produce and that will drive into debt and so they're saying again you know they're not going anywhere until these laws are repealed and the man that you're referring to who came to this protest site with a truck full of food and a truck full of water and he told us that you know farmers feed the country and it's his

quote farmers department discipline. farmers feel that this is a signal of the state into jobs from degree culture and bringing in not big group business get big or get your last is the kind of thing that might happen the government doesn't interest any of these things the government comes up to its white farmers are saying that the basic intent of these t. laws disturb verse many these wants to please take it up and just one final point there bush to be is that into sendai discussion we forget that these 3 laws were meant to be historic gift to the farmers of india when you give someone and that person says nothing to you actually don't want it and if you really want to give me something sure is what i really want to wear to school. so in l a what about what you're going to are saying a basically is saying that you are talking past each other. and that specifically the government is not listening. this is absolutely a wrong decision i can say so we have always take into consideration all that is the mission and vision o

monday even other organizations which are coming to the protests in solidarity with farmers. i want to go again tonight to defeat because as you were out reporting you took us along via social media so we could get deep into what was happening in the protests themselves have a look here on my laptop and we see we mean holding up peaches of their loved ones who have committed suicide you touched on this a little bit but how difficult it was and it is to be a farmer right now in over the last 7 years and so many farmers are in debt from a suicide is something that is a stretch to the farming business can you talk to us more about that. yeah that was a really striking moment because most of the people at these farmers protests have been men because the women have stayed behind in punjab in how to ghana and of the british for the farmers have come from to look after the families but you know we have seen women here and there but this was the 1st time that i walked into a protest site and it's just all women and there were hundreds of them and most of them were holding up photos o

fighting for survival farmers in northern nigeria risked their lives to secure produce but a surge in attacks on them is threatening the nation's food reserves and putting millions of people at risk of starvation so how can farm workers and crops be protected this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program i'm homages attacked by armed bandits and being kidnapped or forced to pay levies before they can reach their farmlands farmers in northern nigeria are caught between protecting their lives and their livelihoods deteriorating security in the north west is reducing food reserves and adding to the nation's food crisis its estimated output has dropped by 60 percent the violence is compounding challenges caused by climate change and the coronavirus pandemic amid address reports from katsina state where hundreds of people including schoolchildren have been recently abducted in north western nigeria where i'm to bend it's room free most barrios regularly friend hardly a day passes without an attack on a village somewhere that leaves either dead or injured and those taken hostage. e

have their fields at the corporates will take over then that so the notice back as farmers think.whoa pharma say that they're even worse than they think and that they what they're going to lead to is leaving farmers at the completed mercy of large corporations now i've read through these laws and what they do is completely deregulate the farming sector at a time when the indian pharma say they actually need more support they need better prices for their produce they need assurances of minimum prices for their projects they point to what happens in the u.s. and europe where the government spends tens of billions of dollars each year subsidizing the agriculture sector and they say that that's what's needed not less regulation and allowing some of the world's largest corporations to come into the indian market and also you know when heart of india's 1300000000 people work in the agriculture sector pharma say it cannot be up to large corporations to the free market to decide what's in the interest i mean it's not going to be small farmers are not going to be in the interest of large c

and joining me for more now is david drucker he's a farmer himself and chairman of the. farmers organization in india good to have you on the program now despite assurances from the government to the contrary farmers are still convinced that they will be worse off under the new farm laws why is that. so you areas governments over the last many many years in a bid to keep food inflation in control have artificially suppressed farmgate prices for years and literally for decades and now the majority of farmers who are not getting the short prices want to short answers for their produce while the few farmers who get a short prices are worried that they will lose the benefits now these fears are not unfounded in the run up to these 33 acts that have been formulated by by the parliament there have been many indications from government functionaries and government offices about limiting or doing away with support pricing mechanisms as they exist the c.a.c.p. with sets the support prices or the central bank the reserve bank of india or a union minister have all said and some wha

farmers department discipline. farmers feel that this is a signal of the state into jobs from record shop and bringing in not be a great business get big or get your last is the kind of thing that might happen the government doesn't interest any of these things the government comes up to me it's quite as far as us saying that the basic indent of these laws disturbs verse many these wants to please take it up and just one final point i wish to be is that in dissent our discussion we forget that these 3 laws lament. historic gift to the farmers of india when you give someone and that person says no think you actually don't want it and if you really want to give me some shit is what i really want. where you just. so you know what about what you're saying he basically is saying that you all are talking past each other and that specifically the government is not listening. this is absolutely a wrong decision i can say. we have all of this to give in consideration all that is the mission and vision of the prime minister

so we sell more than land farmers.ter seedlings are in greater demand and command higher prices. >> more and more farmers in barisal are planning to switch to floating cultivion. the's certaiy no shorte of water. >> on their travels, our reporters often meet interesting young people like this week's global teen from thailand. >> hi, my name is pleng, i'm 16 years old and i go to the international school of bangkok. i'm currently a junior and i there's no other experieed. i lilike being in the water. it's jusyou and the water and you feel a sense of connection. that'sothing youan ever experience on land wn you're connecteto naturon that level. evething justort of dippears andou just reize w amazinand connecd nature is to you. i like to learn, but i don't necessary like howchools are organized. i feel like it puts too much pressure on getting good grades, et cetera, instead of just the aspect of wanting to learn. my mom owns a parentinseminar company caed 360 degrees, and my dad, he just makes business deals. as of now,

so we sell more than lamb farmers. got a little more water seedlings or greater demand come on to higher prices. more and more farmers embarras sell up planning to switch to flushing cultivation and certainly no shortage of water. ok cheat. on their travels all reporters often meet interesting young people like this week's global team from thailand. hi my name is playing i'm 16 years old and i go to the international school of bangkok i'm currently a junior and i live here in bangkok thailand. i like to go diving because there is no other experience like being in the water it's just you and the water and you feel a sense of connection that nothing you can ever experience unless when you connect into nature on that level everything just sort of disappears and you just realize how amazing and connected nature is to you. i like to learn but i don't necessarily like. how schools are organized so i feel like it puts too much cusser on. getting good grades like cetera instead of just the aspect of wanting to learn. my mom ow

but we still offer the farmers a good price or. more and then do some a dad goes to the boat market every friday he may be 70 but he paddles the 5 kilometers there comfortably. hundreds of rivers flow through bangladesh and they have tens of thousands of trivia trace and low lying coastal regions like here in bury cell division is a growing threat the sea level is rising in the bay of bengal so rivers flow most sluggishly towards the sea and spread out across the land salty sea water is intruding deeper into the interior. for boat building it means more work for the boat market stretches for more than 2 kilometers along as. these boats sell for the equivalent of 40 euros they are a bust and can carry loads of up to 450 kilograms mohandas some of debt has a number of loyal customers. it all depends on the skill of the boat builder experience i have a boat so people like me but i've had to work very hard to get to where i am now down. that at. dawn on roy has come to visit he's an agricultural engineer with a district of thora to use

but the farmers remain unconvinced. and how we have always suspected the government's intentions and always will because the government has become a slave of the corporations. they want to turn us into their slaves as well. the farmers' protests have been going on for months since parliament passed the new laws in september, but they've intensified in recent days. when thousands of farmers clashed with police security forces used tear gas and water cannons to prevent protesters from entering delhi. they were stopped just outside the city, but they're now determined to camp out for the long haul on a miniature address for joining me from delhi with more. and i'm sure the prime minister has repeatedly said the farmers have nothing to worry about. why aren't farmers convinced mobilizations trudeau the prime minister as well as the government have to be deleting the sites. but any concerns that farmers need to have out of the side of the opposition parties, misleading them that these laws which evolution and that are any po

but no farmers retaliated violently. amy: this comes as indian farmers continue to protest prime minister narendra modi's move to deregulate agricultural markets. we will speak to indian journalist p sainath, founder of people's archive of rural india. we will speak about narendra modi and covid in india. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the united states experienced the worst day of the pandemic so far on wednesday, recording 200,000 new coronavirus infections as hospitalizations topped 100,000 for the first time. 3157 people died of covid-19 on wednesday unr the uned stat, the highest daily death toll of any nation since the ndemic ban. th is more people than died in the atcks on sepmber 11, 2001 and more than have died of covid-19 across japan in the -- route the pandemic. the head of the centers for disease control and prevention, dr. robert redfield, said the u.s. death toll could rise to nearly 450,000 by the start of february. >> the

and to the dogs is trying to convince the farmers you find white farmers in this. they will not stop protesting and did all she thought of the will back. well, what do farmers fear most about these new laws and all these fears are actually justified? my god, it's important to understand what these laws actually recall as one of the major proposals this changes. how exactly tom, what's going on prospects helps saw that only been out the senate and gotten in designated 62 markets aspecific price. and now these laws and now them to go outside these markets to markets for the wheat from their base bombs, as well as to private and corporate as well. but how is the law do not mention of people? so that is central to the farms concerns, which is the minimum support price, but in the street, the m.s.b. is basically obese. get into price for the government or perhaps to farmers. the new laws do not mention this bomblets feel that gradually they got one to flip back on those possibility of providing this price as well. prince state will look at leaving them in the lurch and

some 1200 farmers in the region have joined the initiative. most of them are cattle farmers. 1 pm in town still has a herd of cows, but he's also cultivating bananas and soursop trees on a section of his land. even though it'll be 5 years before the fruit provides him with a solid income he signed up with below pass us but a lot of people think we're crazy. they don't know why we're planting small trees when we won't even live to see them grow. but my wife and i hope that even if we never get to harvest the fruit one day, our children, our grandchildren will benefit and they'll also benefit from improved air quality even older than i am now. and a year ago, one tells why fully at out was one of several local women in the village and has to found their own cheese dairy, which they run as a co-operative. they all used to make cheese at home by themselves. now they've joined forces the equipment is all brand new and was provided by bill passes. the women produce 5 varieties of cheese. and then we'll head if we went out talk a lot, we say what we

and this is something that farmers don't want.ing the markets and doing transactions with us. we need government protection, we need regulation. with the idea of the reformers, to put it into a bit of context, is that the productivity on india's farms is not as good as it could be. that is what the government would say, and they are trying to improve productivity, to modernise the whole agricultural sector? well, what we have right now in india, for several years now, is a problem of surplus. we are at record production stages and many, many agricultural commodities, including milk. we are world number one. and when farmers go to sell, it is actually a case of that overproduction, and that surplus, actually depressing prices. so, you know, the issue as far as farmers are concerned is not about improving productivity. they are talking about remunerative prices. and very often, the official data shows that farmers cannot recover, are not able to recover what they invest in a cropping season. so, how can the family run? if they don't

and farmers are the poorest people.on't see this as, i think there is a miscommunication, a little bit of a political issue. i'm sure they will be able to resolve it very soon. latin america is a very important market for you, contributes the most to your revenue. but it is also pretty volatile when you take a look at the currencies impacting your profitability at the same time. how do you view this? how do you juggle them two? -- the two? >> yes, operating in 130 countries is a challenge. currency volatility is something which we have learned to man age as part of our dna over the last 30 years. we've really focused on understanding that we, you underlying commodities, soybean, corn, cotton, from argentina/brazil are dollar wise. they trade in dollars. the farmers and hyperinflation markets are quite secure if they do not have leverage in their own currency, they tend to be ok. and the cash flows are always in dollars. so, you know, in a very tough times i've always found that the food systems operate in a pretty, you

the government has assured the scheme will continue, but farmers convinced these $20000.00 farmers aren't going anywhere. their trucks and tractors are blocking the major highways near india's capital. each one of our tractors is loaded with rations up to 4 months. until the time the government reverses these new agricultural laws, none of us will go back into the farmer's field. their livelihoods are threatened. they fear that the government will stop buying grain at guarantee prices. the worry is that this could leave them at the mercy of corporations who won't pay enough for their crops. prime minister, narendra modi is trying to placate the group, he says the growers are being misled and the new laws will benefit them. what's your book and i want to tell the citizens and farmers from the banks of the river ganges and the holy city of our narcy, that we are working with intentions, which are pure as the water of the river ganges. and without any purpose of betrayal. by the modis government says the laws give farmers the freedom to sell their crops to private buyers rather than through

80 percent of farmers have not benefited in any way. by going to but not the only. other groups across india adding momentum to the protests agriculture supports more than half of the country's 1300000000 people any threat to their livelihood could be a major headache for modi's populist government. joining us. delhi mischa tell us more about the strike. members of the bomber strike well did he has support the bombers themselves are blocking well sides of the national guard in addition transport unions have announced this is all that it is apply sheens and there have been warnings to it and vegetable markets be hit on this day in addition bad unions as well as unions have gotten support families who went to work and say that this strike there or is only between the 11 can and should be handled and so asked to install an office that was not really busy this is a symbolic straight and important to emphasize their top test against these new laws and it was it will show in the sixty's and of dogs with the government tomorrow. that many farm

the government has assured the scheme will continue, but farmers convinced these $20000.00 farmers aren't going anywhere. their trucks and tractors are blocking the major highways near india's capital. each one of our tractors is loaded with rations up to 4 months. until the time the government reverses these new agricultural laws, none of us will go back to the farmer's field. their livelihoods are threatened. they fear that the government will stop buying grain at guarantee prices. the worry is that this could leave them at the mercy of corporations who won't pay enough for their crops. prime minister, narendra modi is trying to placate the group, he says the growers are being misled and the new laws will benefit them. what's your book and i want to tell the citizens and farmers from the banks of the river ganges marking, and the holy city of our narcy that we are working with intentions, which are pure as the water of the river ganges. and without any purpose of betrayal, modi's government says the laws give farmers the freedom to sell their crops to private buyers rather than through

farmer kotaro owns these asparagus fields.ce asparagus can grow well over 10 centimeters a day, they must be harvested regularly. each morning at dawn, a team of three to four staff spend four hours harvesting over 3,000 spears of asparagus. but recently they've added a new member to their team. an autonomous harvester robot. this robot can navigate the greenhouse entirely on its own and is able to select and pick only mature asparagus spears that meet the farm's harvest requirements. so, how can this robot tell the difference between immature and mature plants? after inputting thousands of mature asparagus into its memory, the robot's a.i. system can compare the asparagus it views with the camera sensors. it can pick asparagus before gently placing the spears in its robot box. it takes a robot four mes longer than a seasoned worker to harvest a spear of asparagus. although it is nots fast as humans, it is providing welcome support. >> translator: it certainly isn't perfect, but it's taken some of the load off of us and we rea

80 percent of farmers have not benefited in any way. by going to but i do you know many. of the groups across india are adding momentum to the protests agriculture supports more than half of the country's 1300000000 people any threat to their livelihood could be a major headache for modi's populace government. joining us. delhi and misha tell us more about the strike. then there's at the farm a strike loyalty has support the bombers are going to sell those oblong oil sites all of the national capital in addition transport unions have announced as all of it is apply sheens and there have been zones and 1. 200 vegetable markets be hit on this day in addition mad unions as well as the unions that cauldron support families who went to work and say that this strike there or is only between 11 am and sheep. so as to ensure that all those dollars are not really and these are this is a symbolic straight and important to emphasize their top test against these new laws and it was it will show in the sixty's and of dogs with the government tomorro

go down well with farmers all farmers don't want to be seen as being used by any political parties we've been covering these protests for the last 3 weeks and they are very much a grass grassroots movement and the protests a very much people led and it looks like they're only set to continue we have tens of thousands of farmers if not more continuing to block 3 major highways into the indian capital region in protest against these farm boards they even had good news this week from the supreme court which was here in petitions asking for the immediate removal from these highways and the supreme court said farmers have a right to protest that they're just not allowed to damage the lives of damage public property and also asked the solicitor general to form a committee with farm union leaders and government representatives to try and end this 3 weeks now standoff because the government hasn't been able to get farmers aren't open to that because they had many rounds of talks with the government they have rejected the government's proposed amendments and they say that nothing short of a repea

from southern india can now sell to the farmers or the merchants in northern india.s of the government's agrarian reforms and that is what the government has been trying to sell to the other farmers. 0n the other hand, what the farmers are saying is that india is predominantly an agricultural nation, more than 60% of the 1.4 billion population depend on agriculture. many of them are small landowners, so, the reforms will benefit only big corporations and we don't have the power to take on these big corporations in setting the price, when did the market ever give an advantage to poor farmers and the rest of the world? this is a classic case of deregulation of markets and the poor farmers and they are up against it, whereas the typical case of globalisation versus developing countries problem. emergency crews are at the scene of a big explosion in the city of nashville, in the us state of tennessee. the cause of the blast is not yet known, but reports say it could have come from a parked vehicle. a bomb squad has been sent to the area. smoke can be seen billowing from

on the borders of delhi farmers unions around the country have. called for a protest on saturday and you know we've had a lot of support from the public from musicians from the state of punjab where a lot of these farmers a from and now we've had around a 150 actually the clearing a limb pick gold medalists saying that they're going to go to the presidential building on saturday to return their national awards again and solidarity with these farmers and this is something that the government is aware of the support that the farm is have which is probably why they allowed farmers to come into delhi after trying to stop them for 2 days with tear gas and water cannon and baton charging them and have now agreed to holding talks despite the fact that farmers will now clear the highways. as many things are serious and as withdrawn i'm reporting live from tikrit. weather update next here i'll see about that a breakthrough in the afghan peace process find out what it means for talks between the government and the taliban. and the urgent crisis in syria as