India’s fabled farmers fear what new law may reap

FATEHPUR, India: Ram Singh Patel’s day starts at 6 in the morning, when he walks into his farmland tucked next to a railway line. For hours he toils on the farm, where he grows chili peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes and papayas. Sometimes his wife, two sons and two daughters join him to lend a helping hand or have lunch with him.

Once home after sunset, he packs the cultivated crops in jute bags and cardboard boxes, ready to be driven by a trailer to a nearby wholesale market where the produce is sold.