Farmers from more than 20 states of the country had assembled under one banner and put forth their demands to MPs, Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Commerce and Industry Minister and the Planning Commission.

Senior officials of the Consortium of Indian Farmers’ Association (CIFA) said the farming community in the country wants a permanent solution to their problems rather than a short-term one through bonus on crops.

“Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath have agreed to a long-term policy,” they told The Indian Express.

CIFA secretary general Prabhakar K Reddy said they had urged the ministers to fix rates of crops based on cost of cultivation. He said they have also asked that rivers across the country should be interlinked so that input costs could be cut down.

Farmer leaders from 24 states of the country had also met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, BJP president Rajnath Singh and Telgu Desham party chief Chandrababu Naidu. “A meeting of all MPs across the country has been scheduled for March 15 at Andhra Bhawan in Delhi for an open debate,” said farmers.