Surging production costs, rising debts, increasing poverty, landlessness, growing corporate control, strong pressures to introduce genetically modified crops, land degradation, corruption in nutrition programmes…the issues are many. It is important to understand the wide-ranging adverse implications of this growing phenomenon for the sustainability of farming systems, welfare of ordinary farmers, and food security. There is an urgent need to have more protective policies in place for resolving the food, farming, and environmental crisis. This book which combines considerations of ecological protection, nutrition, and justice is appearing at just the right time to contribute to the important debates.

Bharat Dogra has written extensively on this subject. He has thrice received the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting, the FAO-IAAS Award for writing on food, the Sarojini Naidu Award for writing on rural women leaders, as well as prestigious government awards.

Kumar Gautam is a teacher of Economics at The Lawrence School Sanawar in Shimla hills. He has written and campaigned for justice-related aspects of farm trade and issues relating to small farmers and farm workers.