India’s biggest farmers’ groups has announced that it will go ahead with a nationwide protest this week. The farmers are not satisfied with the interim trade deal between India and the US, as they fear the government has given too many concessions in agriculture. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, which represents many farmer unions, has planned protests over the next few days, including a strike on February 12, according to Bloomberg.

In announcing a joint statement released last week, India agreed to reduce tariffs on some agricultural products imported from the US. These include animal feed materials, including distillers dried grains and red sorghum, soybean oil, tree nuts, and fruits. Although cheaper food and animal feeds would be available, competition for local farmers might be a cause for worry.

Leaders of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha say agriculture should not be part of trade agreements and have disapproved the government’s decision. Farmers form a large and important voter group in India, and their strength has been clearly seen before. In 2021, Long protests by farmer groups made the government to withdraw three controversial farm laws.

The government has tried to calm farmers’ fears. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said that sensitive sectors like dairy and poultry are not part of the trade talks. He also said India has not allowed imports of genetically modified (GM) crops from the US, which has always been a sensitive issue for the country.

However, farmers’ leaders point out that the import of distillers dried grains, which are mostly made from GM corn in the US, still allows GM products to enter India in an indirect way.