Bathinda: The farmer groups have asked the central govt to clarify about opening the agriculture sector to the US following a trade agreement.The demand came after the US secretary of agriculture, Brooke Rollins, posted on social media that India’s growing population is an important market for American agricultural products and the deal will go a long way to reducing America’s $1.3 billion agricultural trade deficit with India, in 2024. Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has strongly opposed any trade deal with the US on agriculture sector. SKM national council had recently adopted a resolution warning the Centre against signing a Free Trade Agreement with the USA to open agriculture and dairy sectors. The resolution called upon farmers to rally against compromising the interests of the country under the pressure of the US and corporate forces and declared farmers will unleash struggles like the 2020-21. SKM had stated that the trade deal could spell the death knell for millions of people in India dependent on agriculture, dairying, fishing, and horticulture. “If the floodgates are opened to farm products from the US by reducing the duties to zero or drastically low levels, that will devastate the livelihoods of large sections of petty producers in India,” SKM had said.
