How does the produce of farmers reach us?
Farmers sell their produce in markets run by the government called mandis. Farmers are not allowed to sell their produce to companies directly. They are only allowed to sell their produce to authorised people, called middlemen. The middlemen sell the produce of the farmer to different companies at a profit. Farmers can also sell their produce to the government at the minimum support price (MSP). This is the minimum price at which the government buys the produce of the farmer. This helps farmers support their livelihoods.
What changes did the farm laws bring to the system?
The government allowed farmers to sell their produce to different people and companies directly without middlemen. This way, farmers would also get the profit that was earlier kept by middlemen. Farmers also had the option to sell their produce in mandis or to the government at MSP.
Why were the farmers against these changes?
Farmers feared that the government would close mandis in the future and farmers would be forced to sell their produce to companies directly. It was possible that companies would pay even lesser than middlemen or the MSP offered by the government for the same amount of produce. Recently, the government took back the changes it made to the farm laws due to the protests by the farmers.
