What has brought India's farmers to the streets?

BBC NewsDecember 2020

Tens of thousands of farmers from the states of Punjab and Haryana are now in a grinding standoff with Narendra Modi's Janata Party-led government, protesting a proposed set of laws that taken together will undo protections India's farmers have had for decades from the government.Since the 1960s, concerned about food security in the world's second most populous nation, the Indian government has guaranteed prices to farmers through price supports for a wide range of crops. Now the government is saying it will get out of the way and have farmers deal directly with consumers at market prices.

Farmers have been on the boil in India for some years now. Plot sizes are shrinking, as are incomes from farming. Prices can be wildly erratic, and middlemen form cartels and gobble up much of the profits. Not surprisingly, for a large number of farmers, incomes are dwindling. On the other hand, there are well-founded questions about the impact of inefficient farming on the environment. Farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra states, for example, need to be weaned away from producing an excess of water-guzzling crops such as wheat, paddy and sugarcane that deplete groundwater.

1A. Construct a market for agricultural products produced in India in 1960; label initial supply and demand and initial market price and market quantity with the subscript "1". In constructing your market, ensure there is a title to the market and both axes are labeled.

1B. Write verbatim a 5-15 phrase mentioned in the article that speaks to a continuous change to the market for agricultural products in India since the 1960s.

1C. Return to your market in 1A (do not construct a new market) and make change(s) to the market that have occurred since 1960 consistent with your answer in 1B and information in the article. Label new market price and quantity with subscript 2.

1D. In economic terms, what is the proposed set of laws that Indian farmers are protesting.