Farmers Ask Union Minister to Exclude Panjab Govt. From Talks on 4 May

Farmer union leaders from the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha—angered by 19 Mar post-dialogue arrests—have warned Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan they will boycott the eighth round of talks set for 4 May in Chandigarh if any representatives from the Panjab government attend the talks. Unions insist on a written assurance after police dismantled year-long protests at Shambhu and Khanauri interstate Panjab and Haryana borders and jailed protestors. Their core demands remain a legal Minimum Support Price for all crops, total debt waivers, comprehensive crop-insurance reform and firm timelines for implementation, and others. In a letter to Chouhan they stated, ‘The Punjab government has hurt our self-respect and insulted us. Farmers across the country are resentful towards them’. While relations sour, Panjab’s farm economy faces widening structural crises: the state will spend about USD 1.17B in 2025-26 on free electricity for roughly 1.4M tubewells, part of a cumulative USD 14.6B subsidy since 1997 that officials say is deepening a groundwater table by a meter each year. Pre-paddy-season power demand hit a record 10,298 MW on 23 Apr and is forecasted to reach 17,500 MW in June. This has prompted engineers to call for two new 800 MW supercritical units and expand coal stocks at major thermal plants. Seeking crop diversification, the Panjab agriculture minister earmarked USD 2.3M for a 33% subsidy on the Punjab Agricultural University-recommended Bt-cotton seed—capped at five acres or ten packets per farmer—and set a target of 125K hectares under cotton in 2025. Meanwhile, as livestock numbers fell by 232K cattle and 522K buffalo since 2019 and factories switched to paddy residue, the once famous golden toori (husk) prices have fallen to USD 2.4-2.9 per quintal—roughly the USD 2.9 (INR 250) baling cost (earlier coverage).