ASHA’s Kisan Swaraj Sammelan (Northern & Western India) in Lokniketan, Ratanpur, Gujarat

Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture or the ASHA-Kisan Swaraj network announces the 6th edition of Kisan Swaraj Sammelan, for Western and Northern regions, during January 11, 12 and 13 of 2026 (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) in Lokniketan, Ratanpur (6 kms from Palanpur, Banaskantha district, Gujarat). This Sammelan is co-organised by Lokniketan Trust and JATAN. ASHA-Kisan Swaraj is a pan-India informal citizen-volunteers’ platform to promote sustainable farm livelihoods and to protect farmers’ rights.  More about ASHA Kisan Swaraj is available on www.kisanswaraj.in. 

ASHA has been organizing periodic Kisan Swaraj Sammelans to create an occasion for strengthening our understanding of the highly complex challenges before us, and for rejuvenating our common bonds so that even as we work independently on many fronts, there is a synergy in thought and action. These are also confluences that bring in new people, thoughts, analyses, energies and plans, to collectively move forward towards improving farm livelihoods in India. 

In the past, such Sammelans were organized in Bhopal (2013), Hyderabad (2016), Ahmedabad (2018) and Mysuru (2022). ASHA joined hands with OFAI (Organic Farming Association of India) to organize an organic farmers’ convention in Chandigarh (2015), keeping in line with the biennial organic farming conventions of OFAI.

Kisan Swaraj Sammelans (KSS) are intended to bring together members of India’s agroecology community in particular, even as they draw in those working for farmers’ rights in general. This includes pioneering practitioners, civil society representatives, activists, academics, scientists, social entrepreneurs, writers and journalists, artists etc. The movement is also concerned about consumer choices and consumers’ right to safe, sufficient, diverse and nutritious foods; participants will also be from this domain. Our Sammelans reflect the values, perspectives, experience and knowledge of a citizens’ movement focused on building farmers’/farming communities’ autonomy and sovereignty (with positive outcomes for consumers also), with careful attention to economic prosperity, social equity and environmental sustainability. These Sammelans re-connect people in this community, hold conversations around emerging issues, share and learn from ground level solutions and plan for policy level interventions needed. 

We are attempting a new format this time, which is to have three regional Sammelans, rather than one national Sammelan. This Western and Northern Region Sammelan in Lokniketan Ratanpur will be followed by Southern and Eastern Regions’ Sammelans. The Western and Northern Region Sammelan in January 2026 will cover participants from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.

KSS 2026 will have special focus on four emerging issues in India:

• Seed Sovereignty: Fresh developments in the form of Seeds Bill 2025, proposed amendments to the Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Act 2001 and proposed amendments to International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) – also known as Plant Treaty are threatening our farmers’/nation’s seed sovereignty and thereby our food sovereignty;
• HT Crops/Weed Management: India’s seed market now has 3 non-GM herbicide tolerant (non-GM HT) crops introduced, in addition to genome edited rice varieties, both developments based on compromised regulatory systems, science without integrity and undemocratic policy-making. They will largely compromise the very integrity of organic/natural farming by spirit, standards and practices;
• Labour in Farming: Human and draught labour in agriculture is undergoing complex changes and needs practical and policy solutions to be put into place, for a win-win solution for agricultural labourers, farmers, environment and livestock;
• Human-Animal conflicts: They are on the rise, with wildlife attacks on farmers’ lives, crops and livestock leading to losses and strife, which also need both policy level and practice level solutions.

For more details see this pdf