India’s huge farmer protests, explained
Thousands of India’s farmers have set up camp in Delhi.
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In November 2020, thousands of farmers marched from the northern states of India to Delhi to protest farming reforms passed by Prime Minister Modi’s government. Those protests have continued throughout the month of December and show little sign of letting up. The farmers have set up camp in and around the capital city to pressure the government to repeal the laws, but the government won’t budge.
The government says these new laws will modernize farming by liberalizing the industry, but India’s farmers say it will be their downfall. Under these new policies, farmers will have fewer government protections and will likely lose the government-regulated markets and prices they have relied on for decades.
To make matters even more difficult, all this is happening as India’s farmers grapple with a shrinking share of the economy that has contributed to a suicide crisis around the country.
To understand the three farming reforms and why they have driven so many farmers into the streets, as well as the history behind the problems farmers have been facing for decades, watch the video above.
Sources and further reading:
If you want to read the three laws behind the protests, issued in late September, you can find them here:
https://ruralindiaonline.org/library/tags/farm-bills/
For a deep dive into “mandis,” or India’s regulated whole markets, check out the report “Understanding Mandis: Market Towns and the Dynamics of India’s Rural and Urban Transformations” by Mekhala Krishnamurthy:
https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/research/Understanding%20Mandis%20-%20D.%20Kapur%2C%20M.%20Krishnamurthy.pdf
Here, you can explore data that shows the impact of the farming reforms on the whole markets since they were announced in June 2020:
https://agmarknet.gov.in/SearchCmmMkt.aspx?Tx_Commodity=0&Tx_State=0&Tx_District=0&Tx_Market=0&DateFrom=01-Jun-2020&DateTo=16-Dec-2020&Fr_Date=01-Jun-2020&To_Date=16-Dec-2020&Tx_Trend=1&Tx_CommodityHead=–Select–&Tx_StateHead=–Select–&Tx_DistrictHead=–Select–&Tx_MarketHead=–Select–
To learn more about the “Green Revolution” and the impact it had on India and its agriculture, check out this detailed report by the Journal of Ethnic Foods:
https://journalofethnicfoods.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42779-019-0011-9
If you want to explore India’s agricultural economy in relation to the country’s GDP over time, check out this data from the World Bank:
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS?locations=IN
Here is some more data compiled by the Government of India on India’s farmer suicide crisis:
https://ncrb.gov.in/sites/default/files/chapter-2-suicides-2018.pdf
And a link to international suicide hotline numbers: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines
Finally, you can read our written explainer on Vox.com here:
https://www.vox.com/2020/12/2/21726648/india-farmer-protests-strike-action-new-delhi
Thanks for watching and let us know what you think in the comments!
Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what’s really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.
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@Vox
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Hello! We have translated subtitles available in Hindi and Punjabi. You can access them through the settings icon > Subtitles/CC
We heard from so many of you in the comments asking for this explainer, we want to let you know we heard you loud and clear. Thanks for watching, and let us know what other global events you want to see explained next in the comments or at voxvideo@vox.com
Thanks, Christina, Video Producer
@Life.is.a.library
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Whatever they explained is correct and I also agree with it but there's second side of the coin also. Majority of them who was protesting are not actually farmers, they were the dealers who buy crops from the regulated markets and hoards it, and enjoy the never ending profiteering without any hardwork.
@akshayp1213
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
psyops wasted in the drain the republic lives on
@kandularajasekhar3011
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
If u really wanted to explain the issue at hand , then where is the other side just showing one side and showing data is not enough show other sides stance or at least people invested in economics to explain how it affects farmers.
@jonybe5854
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Putin calls imigrants for a good life in Russia
@GregoryGras-th4kv
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
They don't talk about why they are in debt Bill Gates!!!!!
@AdityaAditya-gf6ds
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
They are territories see in situation of war instad of supporting country they anr start protesting.
@Smyrni..13
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Thank you vox for picking up this issue , thank you from the bottom of my heart
@sanilbaby2120
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
🇮🇳❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
@Kuldeepsharma-lj2fm
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
I am from a punjabi farming family! you did not cover this with honesty!
@sanketbablad
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Support all farmers 🇮🇳🇮🇳❤️💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
@ArshLX12
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
And then they called farmers as terrorists..when government itself was at fault 🥲
@parambhatia3183
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Moveable vehicle with PROTEST with Delhi MSP with POSTER BJP party with
@parambhatia3183
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
2 days with before with
@parambhatia3183
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Leader with name with Bhai Ranjit Singh ji with gurudwara Ji with
@princegill8678
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Food , home ,& education must be free. This kind rule we Need..
@vismitasai2521
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
the fact that farmers were able to decode!!! shows how deep-thinking farmers are!!
@SoulUnfiltered667
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Indian media is the most useless media in the world
@ashokindian36
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Why khalistanis not helping our panjabi farmers to export their products directly to America, Europe, and Keneda 😂🎉with MSP they demanding from government 😂🎉????
@TanyaTanwar-x3u
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Khalistanis😅😅
@shubhamsawant1551
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
WTO Is India Exist fro mit India will be Poor country
@jagseerbhullar1679
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Its still happening please help our community
@bikramjeetbrar7470
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Farmers never should have trusted the government they lied to us so farmers are headed to Delhi again they are being met with Tear gas, water cannons, barricades and security forces trying to stop them but they will stay strong and stick together
@George-qk6hg
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
The farmers who toil hard aren't given the benefits of their hard work. The middle men rip off farmers and sell crops at high price in the cities. Pm modi wanted to stop this and make farmers sell their crop directly into the cities thus bypassing the middle men. This infuriated the middle men and their families and they came blocking the streets.
@meryemyuksel6712
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Does this mean that there’s a lot of farmers so supply of farming produce is really high, which would mean in an unregulated market they’d have to sell products for less money? If this is the case, shouldn’t farmers be encouraged to move to other professions due to how the green revolution increased efficiency?
@blessondaniel3735
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
These laws were really good.
@mananagarwal7002
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
In USA, “The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.” – JFK
In India, “The Farmer is the only man in economy who buys everything on subsidy and sells everything tax free and receives benefits both ways.“
@JL-wf2wp
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Vox, you don't have to explain anything. Let the farmers FROM THERE tell everyone the REAL STORY. We don't need a bunch of partial pink snobs making their own version from behind their comfort and aligned with political agendas
@kumarnadir1551
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
2 IPS officers bajani padi ekathi
@satyam_krishna
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
The farmlaws are intended to benefit farmers,who are getting exploited in the mandis where traders form cartels and buy produce at very cheap prices because farmers are prohibit farmers or wholesalers,retailers to buy outside mandis.These laws allow private trade by liberalising trade,farmers are free to sell to whomever they want and where ever they want.The only ones who get affected by this is cartels.
@bowofvana6020
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
So farmers are only from Punjab and not the other 27 states?
@ritviksood2654
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
That moment when you realize these laws would have been benficial for the country.
@Form4737
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Subsribe if Punjab is the best Indian state
@sherryjat7433
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
India has taken over China in population 😂 how now I understand India government wanted to have control over farming also 😊😅
@chennaisuperkingsfansthala2233
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Good information
@akashmhaske-rm5gu
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Yeh farmer ko protest karne ke liye videsh se funding milie thi yeh ek sochi samjhi sajhish thi india is growing aur koie bhi india ko superpower bannee se nahi rok sakta
@greyvilgaxmatter456
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
this video aged like milk…
@loveyourgeisha
October 17, 2025 at 11:02 am
Why must we all get so greedy. I'm with the farmers!
Comments are closed.