Farmers seek livelihood security from parties

AHMEDABAD: The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) along with some NGOs, on Sunday, urged all political parties to include livelihood security for farmers in their election manifesto. Their representatives released a charter of demands for income and livelihood security for farmers at Gandhi Ashram here.Kapil Shah, Jatan Trust, said, "Elections are round the corner and this time the political parties should mention farmers' demand in their manifesto because 60 % people of India are directly connected to agri-business but no party ever thinks about this."Shah said, "Use of pesticides has affected our food crops and its quality. We demand that agriculture should be shifted towards ecological farming on a massive scale in a time bound manner."Devinder Sharma, an analyst of food policy, said, "Despite tall claims about green revolution and rhetoric about agricultural development, around 2,300 farmers have quit agriculture."