Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday defended India’s biggest farm reforms in decades but offered to “very humbly” hold further talks with farmers protesting against the laws they fear would erode their incomes.
Tens of thousands of farmers have blocked roads leading into New Delhi for the past three weeks demanding a repeal of laws that give them the option to sell directly to private companies.
The government says the change is necessary to boost farm returns and improve storage and other infrastructure.
But the farmers, mainly from the northern agrarian states of Punjab and Haryana, fear private companies would eventually dictate terms and the government would stop buying grains like wheat and rice from them at a minimum guaranteed price.
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