Putting farmers first

This year the pandemic has resulted in a wave of disruptions across people’s lives and their livelihood. And in recent times the focus on the agriculture sector in India has been of particular interest due to the impact of lockdown and the new agricultural reforms. There is a conundrum observed around the recent announcements of agriculture reforms with regard to the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMCs), framework for contract farming, revisions in Essential Commodities Act. The volatility of the agricultural markets is deeply contested in the economic and public policies across the Centre and State governments and raises concerns on accountability measures.

This necessitates the need to create a space to have the discussions to understand the structure and dynamics of agriculture markets along the lines of the new reform announcements and its impact on the lives and livelihood of the farmers. To stimulate thoughts on this important issue within the context of India, the International Growth Centre (IGC) and Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) host a webinar on ‘Putting Farmers First’ on 21^st December 2020 at 16:00 IST.