Indian farmers want stable crop prices
Farmers blocked highways and held demonstrations in rural areas of northern India on Friday to demand for legislation that would guarantee minimum support prices for all farm produce.
Farmers in the northern states of Haryana and Punjab held protests near toll plazas on major highways in the strike, supported by some trade unions.
Tens of thousands of farmers began a protest march toward New Delhi earlier this week to demand, but were stopped by the police about 200 kilometers (125 miles) away from the capital.
The farmers are camping on the border between Punjab and Haryana after being blocked by concrete and metal barricades. Police detained some protesters.
Authorities have also suspended mobile internet service in some areas of Haryana, blocked the social media accounts of some protest leaders and used drones to drop tear gas canisters on the protesters.
Currently, the government protects agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices by setting a minimum purchase price for certain essential crops, a system that was introduced in the 1960s to help shore up food reserves and prevent shortages.
The farmers want legislation that will apply the protection to all produce. The protesting farmers are mostly from Punjab and Haryana and are relatively better-off than farmers in other Indian states.
However, increasing cultivation costs and rising debts have led them to overproduce rice and wheat, crops for which they get a minimum support price, or MSP.
Farmers said a guaranteed minimum support price for other crops would stabilize their incomes. They are also pressing the government to follow through on promises to double their income, waive their loans and withdraw legal cases brought against them earlier.