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`Keep agriculture out of WTO'

Special Correspondent

Organisation's terms are making farmers vulnerable to exploitation, says expert

JAIPUR: Hundreds of farmers participating in a convention against "anti-farmer'' policies of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at Madhorajpura village near here on Thursday demanded that agriculture be kept out of the WTO purview and steps be taken to protect food security and livelihood of the poor threatened by the policies of developed countries.

The day-long convention was organised as part of the "make trade fair'' (MTF) campaign in the run-up to the WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong next month. The farmers, farm labourers and small traders expressed their concern over the likelihood of reduction in agricultural subsidy through the Agreement on Agriculture to which India will be a signatory.

The convention was organised jointly by the Kisan Seva Samiti Mahasangh, Swadeshi Jagaran Manch and the Centre for Community Economics and Development Consultants' Society (CECOEDECON). It urged the Central Government to take an independent stand while signing the terms of WTO agreement and protect the interests of small and marginal farmers.

The former Bharatiya Janata Party leader, K.N. Govindacharya, addressing the convention, said no cost-benefit analysis of India's involvement in the WTO during the last decade had been undertaken by the Government. He said no compromise on farmers' interests should be made in the Hong Kong meet.

Suman Sahai, expert associated with Gene Campaign, pointed out that the WTO terms were affecting the domestic policies and making farmers vulnerable to exploitation. She called for giving freedom to farmers to decide their crop pattern and utilise indigenous knowledge in farming.

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