Contract farming: protecting interests of small and marginal farmers in India

This book studies the impact of forced and monopsonistic ways of the corporates on the livelihood of the small and marginal farmers in India. The small and marginal farmers are the mainstay of the Indian agriculture who suffer from deep food insecurity and hunger. They are also, ironically the people who grow food for the country. In the 1990s, as a result of globalization, India was forced to open its agricultural market to the world and to bring changes in her national food policy. With the continuous structural adjustments, economic reforms and globalization the small and marginal food system has been transformed into a corporate controlled industrial system of agriculture. This transformation, since then is destroying indigenous knowledge. The once self-sufficient small and marginal farmer who produced a diversity of food crops and seeds is now forced to become a cultivator of 'crop commodity. The introduction of contract farming in India is one such process of the corporatization of agriculture.

The book touches many aspects of the lives of the small and marginal farmers. It covers their socioeconomic conditions, and imputes the cost of input and production (output). It analyses various profitability issues they face once they sign contracts with the companies. The study is unique because it not only accounts for the opinions and realities of the farmers but also analyses the interviews of the stakeholders and the government officials: thereby addressing the issues involved holistically. Further it presents a case for food sovereignty and suggests policy changes. Gender is a theme that cuts across all aspects in the book. Case studies have been discussed on child and family labour, as well.