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10.30 AM: Meeting with civil society groups and activists 12:00 PM: Public meeting

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...

10:00 am: Sarangi, Jhabua dist., 2:00 pm: Badnavar, Dhar dist., 6:00 pm: Badnagar, Ujjain dist.

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

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...

11 AM: Public meeting with farmers at Meghnagar, Jhabua dist. 7 PM: Public meeting with farmers at Petlawad, Jhabua dist.

After flagging off at Sabarmati Ashram, the Yatra fanned out in 4 teams setting off in different directions. Under the meticulous planning... Read More

New Delhi/Ahmedabad: Oct 2nd, 2010: On a day when India and the world marked the 141st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, hundreds of citizens came together in Ahmedabad to flag off a nation-wide Kisan Swaraj Yatra, for a 71-day trip across 20 states of India, to provide a message of hope to Indian farmers and to promote self-reliant ecological farming. The Yatra, organized by scores of organizations and individuals across the country under the auspices of “Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture”, was flagged off by veteran renowned natural farmer Shri Bhaskar bhai Save, acclaimed as the “Living Gandhi of Natural Farming”. The “Kisan Swaraj Yatra” seeks to remind all Indians of our hard-won independence and the insidious ways in which agri-business corporations and others are taking this independence and sovereignty away, especially with regard to our food and farming. This Yatra is a call for joining forces to save Indian farming and farmers mired in deep distress and to forge a sustainable path forward for Indian farming. More...

The Swaraj Yatra bus reached Ahmedabad from Delhi on Sept.30th. On board were farmers and activists from Bihar, Delhi and Bangalore. Appropriately, our first stay together as Yatris is at the venerable Gujarat Vidyapeeth founded by Mahatma Gandhi. On Oct 1st, the Vidyapeeth was teeming with Yatris reaching from various parts of the country. Farmers from Punjab, Bihar, M.P., Maharashtra, Orissa, Chattisgarh, A.P. and Karnataka are around, along with activists from around India. Even as we walked by the Nayi Taleem school, we found ourselves discussing in various languages about how to take the message of ecologically sustainable agriculture across the country.