Police fire teargas to disperse Indian farmers

NEW DELHI: Indian police on Tuesday fired teargas and water cannons to halt and scatter a march by thousands of protesting farmers heading for the capital New Delhi to demand better prices for their produce.

Reeling from a crash in commodity prices, more than 50,000 farmers from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, a top producer of wheat and cane , blocked part of the main highway to the capital.

They also sought loan waivers, cheaper power and tougher action to get sugar mills to pay dues owed for their cane, as discontent in rural areas turns to anger against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces tough general elections next year.

"Despite our repeated requests, the government has failed to help farmers in any meaningful ways," a farm leader, Dharmendra Malik, told Reuters by telephone from the protest site. "Left with no choice, we’ve decided to march to Delhi to highlight our plight."

Cash-strapped sugar companies owe cane growers about 135 billion rupees ($1.9 billion) in the current season. Saddled with huge piles of sugar and hit by a fall in prices, mills have said they are unable to pay farmers on time.