OCTOBER 7th: 3 DISTRICTS OF MP COVERED IN 3 EVENTS (Jhabua, Dhar, Ujjain)
“Badnagar citizens promise to take the message of the Kisan Swaraj Yatra to 110 villages in the coming days even as the Yatra moves on”
“Sarangi village panchayat will promote ecological farming with its farmers”
Bright yellows, oranges and greens – the turbans of the farmers who were attending the weekly haat (village market) in Sarangi village were standing out bright and brilliant. Women were out in great numbers too, not just purchasing things but also selling various assorted things starting from agricultural implements like sickles to vegetables and clothes. Our slogans which summed up the messages and mood of the Kisan Swaraj Yatra were greeted with vigorous nods by farmers and shrill shouts from a sizeable group of inspired kids.More...
Oct 8: Yatra is at Indore
10.30 AM: Meeting with civil society groups and activists 12:00 PM: Public meeting
October 6th 2010: WE BEGIN THE YATRA IN MADHYA PRADESH WITH A BANG
We seemed to have entered that part of Madhya Pradesh where the recipe for an agricultural disaster is in the making. Meghnagar, Thandla and Petlawad areas of Jhabua district of MP. Vegetable cultivation, especially of tomatos seems to be on the high. Chemical fertilizer use is higher here than even in Punjab, going by the discussions we had with farmers throughout the day. Further, deadly chemical pesticides are being used. Bhils and Bhilalas are being lured towards intensive cultivation and borrowing on high interest from moneylenders is the norm. More...
Oct 7: Yatra visiting 3 districts in M.P.
10:00 am: Sarangi, Jhabua dist., 2:00 pm: Badnavar, Dhar dist., 6:00 pm: Badnagar, Ujjain dist.
Oct 6: Four meetings in Jhabua dist., Madhya Pradesh
11.00 AM: Meeting with farmers at Meghnagar, Jhabua dist. 3.30 PM: Meeting with farmers at Unnayi village 5.00 PM: Meeting at Sampark-gaav,... Read More
“KISAN SWARAJ YATRA DEMANDS IMMEDIATE SCRAPPING OF PROJECT SUNSHINE – DIVERT THE FUND FOR ECOLOGICAL, SUSTAINABLE FARMING”
Ahmedabad/Dahod, October 5, 2010: Mounting an attack on the state government of Gujarat, Kisan Swaraj Yatra, joined by hundreds of tribal women farmers today, demanded that the Chief Minister Narendra Modi should step in and scrap the tribal welfare department’s joint project with Monsanto in the tribal districts of the state called “Project Sunshine”. The visits of the four teams of the Kisan Swaraj Yatra to villages in Panchmahal and Dahod districts and the interaction with the tribal farmers clearly shows that this project is only leading farmers down an unsustainable path and providing ready markets for an MNC like Monsanto, known for its anti-farmer activities. Meanwhile, hundreds of women and men tribal farmers who assembled at Bara village in Devgarh Baria tehsil of Dahod, felt that it is important to be cautious about such projects. “They are just tempting people by combining it with subsidized fertilizers and seeds in the first year and ultimately leading us towards disaster”, said Madhuben Nayak of Adivasi Mahila Organic farmers cooperative in the Adivasi Mahila Khedut Swaraj Sammelan. More...
October 4th 2010 – From the Sabarkantha – Panchmahal route
“PROJECT SUNSHINE SOWING SEEDS OF DISASTER IN TRIBAL GUJARAT”
“FARMERS REJECT MONSANTO’S HYBRID MAIZE”
“The yellow maize is ending up contaminating our own maize, say tribal farmers”
It was around 7.15 pm and the sky was brilliant with millions of stars shining brightly on us. Men and women sat together in this meeting in the village - Vangad. “We know better than to sow that hybrid maize given in the project. We take what the NGOs give us – throw away the seed, sow our own ‘safed makka’ and keep the chemical fertilizer. Even with the fertilizer, we don’t use all of it and sell away what we don’t need”, explained a young farmer, making us all burst into amazed laughter. We were told that this village is quickly going back to their own maize after trying out hybrid maize supplied by Monsanto. More...
Oct 6: Yatra is in Madhya Pradesh
11 AM: Public meeting with farmers at Meghnagar, Jhabua dist. 7 PM: Public meeting with farmers at Petlawad, Jhabua dist.
October 3rd 2010 – From the Mehsana-Sabarkantha route in Gujarat
“Madasana Cumpa villagers vow to keep GM foods away”
“Bt Cotton crop has dried up this year”
After a very somber meeting in Gujarat Vidya Peeth where speakers like Anupam Mishra (Gandhi Marg/Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi) and Dr Sudarshan Iyengar (Vice Chancellor, Gujarat Vidya Peeth, a higher education institution founded by Gandhi ji) brought out many issues of injustice and inequity in rural India today, pertaining to “Swaraj”, the Kisan Swaraj Yatra began following a complex plan of events over the next days with all Yatris divided up into four teams. More...
Oct 4th: Yatra visiting adivasi region of Gujarat
Today, three Yatra teams traverse Panchmahal district and one team travels in Dahod district. Yatra is visiting 12 adivasi villages, holding farmer... Read More