Farmers’ organisations in the country, which participated in nationwide protests on February 12, continue to be severely critical about the India-US bilateral trade agreement regarding its implications for agriculture.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha, one of the largest farmers’ organisations, has called the deal a “total surrender” to US interests and has demanded the resignation of Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal. The farmers are particularly concerned about the impact of importing crops with no or little tariffs and two animal feeds from the US, distillers dried grains (DDGS) and red sorghum, which are said to use genetically modified (GM) components.
Farmers are afraid that imported US products will affect Indian products, such as apples, cotton and soybean to begin with, and introduce GM into the Indian market through the cattle feeds. “We strongly oppose the import of GM food products,” says ASHA (Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture)-Kisan Swaraj, a national platform.
Farmer leader Rajesh Tikait has said Indian farmers, who are more vulnerable than US farmers, will be hurt by the deal.
On Monday Lok Sabha was adjourned after the deal sparked a stand-off between the government and opposition parties. The Congress has raised a strong voice against the deal.
The deals critics also point out that the terms of the deal are not transparent: statements about it are changing and details of specific tariffs are not clear.
However, commerce minister Piyush Goyal has claimed that the government has taken care not to harm farmers. “I can say with full confidence that this India-US agreement does not harm the interests of India’s farmers, MSMEs, or the handloom and handicraft sectors in any way,” he said.
What the deal says
According to a joint India-US statement announced on February 7, the two countries are willing to slash tariffs on a reciprocal basis, to 18 per cent, and the US will also drop additional 25 per cent tariff imposed earlier on Indian goods if India stops buying oil from Russia. In return, India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains (DDGs), red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, certain pulses, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products. India will also eliminate “non-tariff” barriers.
The statement added: “India committed to buy more American products and purchase over US dollars 500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, agricultural, coal, and other products.”
On February 11, the US removed references to pulses from the list of products, to agricultural products and to the commitment on spending US dollars 500 billion.
A new statement read: “India intends to buy more American products and purchase over $500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, coal, and other products.”
But red flags for farmers, activists and experts.
Import jitters
In a news conference following the announcements, Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a coalition of over 40 Indian farmers’ unions whose protests had the Union government rolling back three farm laws in 2020, underlined its main concerns. It saw the import of the agricultural products mentioned in the agreement such as DDGS, red sorghum, nuts, fruits, soybean oil and wine and spirits, in particular of the animal feed DDGs and red sorghum, as a threat to Indian agriculture.
“We are seriously concerned about US-India joint statement and the economic impact on farmers due to elimination of tariffs on imports of ‘a wide range of US food and agricultural products’,” says ASHA-Kisan Swaraj in its statement. “This will depress domestic prices, undermine Indian farmers, horticulturists, and oilseed growers, distort feed and livestock markets, and increase dependence on imports,” it adds.
“In particular, import of DDGs and red sorghum will impact the incomes of millions of farmers growing maize, jowar, soybean and other crops used for fodder and feed for animals and poultry,” ASHA-Kisan Swaraj feels. It is apprehensive that the import of soybean oil will affect millions of soybean farmers who are already facing a severe crisis in Maharashtra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha is sceptical about minister Goyal’s claim that Indian agriculture on the whole and Indian dairy products have been protected. It points out that Apple growers in Jammu and Kashmir and cotton growers in Maharashtra and Gujarat expressed fear about worsening farmer distress with imported US apples and textiles. The organisation has called the India-US deal “anti-people” and said it could establish US control over Indian agriculture, threatening farmers’ livelihoods all over the country.
GM alarm
The fear of the farmers is also rooted in the arrival of GM into the Indian market, in which DDGs and red sorghum will play key roles.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha has questioned why animal feeds are being imported at all, as no farmer has demanded it. It also expressed fear over non-vegetarian components in the feeds.
“DDGS imported from the US is mostly made from GM corn and GM soya,” says Bharat Mansata, environmental activist and a core team member of Bharat Beej Swaraj Manch, also known as India Seed Sovereignty Alliance.
“Initially, this may only be the soft entry point of GM products for big American agribusiness into Indian agriculture,” says Mansata. “DDGs are cattle feed and poultry feed. If it is fed to our cows and chickens, GM will enter our food system through meat, milk and eggs.” But unfortunately, consumer awareness of the health hazards of GM in their food supply is still very low, he says. With this first entry step, it will be easier for American and global corporate to introduce GM crops later.
Already the Indian government has deregulated and approved “gene-edited” (GE) crop varieties, which, many activists feel, is not essentially different from GM. The ecological, health and socio-economic dangers remain, especially in the absence of rigorous government testing.
“We strongly oppose the import of GM food and feed products from the US in the garb of this trade agreement, particularly soybean oil and DDGs which would mostly come from GM maize,” says ASHA-Kisan Manch. “India also agrees to address long-standing non-tariff barriers to the trade in US food and agricultural products,” says the platform. It feels that “this is coded language for lifting long-standing restrictions on GM food crops and products that have been in place in India, among other non-tariff barriers”. This could open doors for the import of a higher range of GM crops and food products into India.
The outfit also termed “unscientific” Goyal’s statement that GM effects are no longer there in a processed item.
Congress raised questions
Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh at a news conference last week had voiced his concerns about the trade agreement in five questions, highlighting agriculture.
“One, we will eliminate or reduce import duties on farm products from the US. So it’s a clear benefit for US farmers and not for Indian farmers,” he said. The second worry was the US condition about India importing Russian oil, the third about India’s commitment to getting US imports worth US dollars 100 billion per year over the next five years – “which means basically today we enjoy a trade surplus, it could very well become a trade deficit”; the fourth about no mention of IT and the service sectors and the fifth about increasing export duty on Indian products. The trade deal was in America’s interests, Ramesh concluded.
Claim vs concern
The government has been going out of its way to allay farmers’ fears.
At a news conference on Saturday, the commerce minister said: “India has successfully defended its key trade ‘red lines’ in the landmark agreement with the US.” The deal will not compromise Indian farmers in any way. Despite the GM link to DDGs, Goyal said that no GM product will enter India from the US.
“Agricultural products from Indian farmers will be exported to the US at zero duty. At the same time, no tariff concessions have been granted for agricultural products from US farmers entering the Indian market. The agreement also makes it clear that genetically modified (GM) food will not be allowed into India,” Goyal said.
In a statement issued by the Union ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare, Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has echoed Goyal’s claims.
Yet farmers remained unconvinced by government assurances, as do bigger concerns. “This is not just about farmers. The biggest issue here is transparency. People were not informed. This is a massive, across-the-board deal — it affects oil, energy, farming, and manufacturing. Every sector has serious implications,” Nikhil Dey, founder-member of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan was reported as saying in South First.