Rajendra Jadhav & Mayank Bhardwaj

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Indian farmers staged a massive rally Monday in support of minimum prices for all products, and not only rice or wheat, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi conceded to his demands that agricultural reform laws be repealed.

Modi announced on Friday that he would reverse reforms after the farmers protest movement began over a year earlier.

The latest rally was held in Lucknow (the capital of Uttar Pradesh), India’s most populous country. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is seeking to keep power at the forthcoming state elections.

There have been thousands of farmers camping on New Delhi’s outskirts for the past two years as part of an organized movement to force Modi to reverse the reforms.

Farmers celebrated his climbdown, but leaders warned immediately that protests would continue, until the government promises to guarantee that all crops receive minimum prices.

At the moment, India’s government buys rice, wheat, and other commodities at the Minimum Support Price or Guaranteed Prices. But the safety net only benefits 6%.

Modi received a Monday letter from the principal farmers’ organization stating that they wanted a minimum support price based upon the total cost of production to be legal for all farmers. . .”

A draft bill on electricity was also submitted by the Federal Government. Farmers feared that this would cause state governments to stop providing subsidised, free, or even unlimited power to their farms, which is mainly used for irrigation.

Punjab in northern India, which is part of India’s grain belt gives electricity free of charge to agriculture while other states subsidize power for farmers.

The government has been asked by growers to reduce the penalties and fines for burning down their fields following harvest to clear stalk and chaff. This smoke is a significant source of pollution for Delhi and the satellite cities that border northern crop-growing states.