New Delhi, Dec 8 (TIWN) In a bid to tend to their farms or unwind from the face-off with the police, few farmers from adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh leave the protest site at the Ghazipur border with Delhi at night to return home and return to join the siege the next morning or few days later.

Leaders in the protest rally allege their demands for clearing farmers’ balance sheets, ensuring remunerative prices for crops, and implementing the Forest Rights Act for the benefit of scheduled tribes have not been done entirely. An 8 per cent contraction in agriculture (worse, the crop sub-sector contracted 14 per cent), according to the latest economic survey by the state, worsens the situation.  The western state received 84 per cent of the average rainfall during the June to October period in the 2017 season, with regional variations. The deficit in the drought-prone Vidarbha region was above 20 per cent. On top of that, increased pest attacks affected standing cotton crops, according to the economic survey. The state witnessed record foodgrain and cotton production in 2016-17, registering 22 per cent growth in the agriculture sector, followed by a contraction in the current year.