It was in the 1980s that India started its liberalization policies. It was a policy stressing free market, privatization and globalization. Liberalization made it necessary for India to become part of the World Trade Organization. The purpose was to bring free International trade and open Indian markets for imports. Liberalization policy had a big influence in agriculture and village communities.
Before liberalization, the Indian farmers had the support of the nation and protection in the market from imported goods. But as a result of liberalization and globalization, farmers faced competition from global market. We can see imported fruits and other food items even in the small shops of our villages. But a few years ago such imported things were not available here. There was heavy import duty and so many things were not imported. But globalization removed all such restrictions.
This badly affects the farmers here. For example, India decided to import wheat. This adversely affected the wheat farmers. Some farmers in Punjab and Karnataka entered into contract with Multinational companies to grow some crops like tomato and potato. The companies had agreed to buy these crops for export. There are some dangers in this ‘contract agriculture’. The company decides what should be grown. It is the company that provides seeds, capital, and technology. The company also agrees to buy the product at a fixed price.
This contract-agriculture is common in India. It may look as if it is good for the farmers as it gives them financial guarantee. But the problem here is that the farmers have to depend on the companies for their livelihood. It removes the freedom of the farmer to grow what he likes. He has to work like an employee of the company. Sometimes they have to produce only owers for export and so they cannot cultivate any food crops.
Local knowledge of agriculture does not have any role here. The farming is to be done as suggested by the company. Through contract-farming, things need by the rich people are produced. Ordinary people have no use of such things. Moreover these crops need a lot of chemical fertilizers and insecticides which will bring .a lot of damage to the environment. Agriculture has now become highly globalized. The multinationals entered this field as sellers of seeds, insecticides, chemical fertilizers and so on. But now they dictate to the farmers what to cultivate and how to cultivate it.
