Thousands of farmers driving tractors prepared to march again on Wednesday to the capital, New Delhi, according to AFP on Feb. 21. Previously, they had not been able to agree with **on the issue of food**.
Farmers are demanding a law that expands the coverage of what is now the pricing of rice and wheat, fixing the minimum for all grains. Demonstrators paused their march to New Delhi last week, awaiting the outcome of negotiations between ** and the trade unions, but several rounds of negotiations failed to make progress. Now farmers are trying to block the highways in and out of the capital in order to put pressure on India**.
Most of the people involved in the demonstration were Sikhs from Punjab. Located in western India, Punjab is the birthplace of Sikhism (65 believers in the population), meaning the land of five rivers, which refers to the confluence of the five tributaries of the Indus River, the Jahrum River, the Jenab River, the Ravi River, the Bias River, and the Sutlej River. Area 5040,000 square kilometers. It has a population of about 16.79 million. 95% of the territory is plain, and the economy is dominated by agriculture and small industry. Agriculture relies on a vast network of irrigation canals and numerous tube wells, and the irrigated area accounts for 65 percent of the cultivated land. The main food crops are wheat, maize, rice, millet, barley and beans, and it is India's largest commercial grain base and high-quality cotton producer. Punjab's annual grain output is more than 30 million tons, accounting for about 18% of India's total, while its population is less than 2% of India's, making it the state with the largest surplus grain in India, which is of great significance in India's food supply.
In the 7-80s of the last century, the Sikhs in Punjab blocked roads and railways to stop the export of food from Punjab because of their struggle for independence, which led to the bloody repression of the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. It ended with Indira Gandhi being killed by her Sikh bodyguards and a massive ** Sikh population in India.
It can be said that Punjab is the food lifeblood of India, and if Punjab is lost, India's survival will encounter big problems.