Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday urged the Centre to exempt agriculture from the proposed India-US trade deal, saying Indian farmers would not be able to compete with their American counterparts.The appeal was made after the two leaders paid obeisance at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.Kejriwal visited the shrine with his family for the first time since a Delhi High Court acquitted him and others in the alleged liquor policy case.Speaking to the media, Mann said the government must safeguard farmers’ interests in any trade agreement with the United States. He said the average landholding of a farmer in the US was around 500 acres, while farmers in Punjab typically owned about 2.5 acres.Mann also claimed that farmer suicides in Punjab had declined during the tenure of the AAP government and attributed that to its policies.He said irrigation water availability in the state had increased significantly since the party came to power, rising from about 21 per cent in March 2022 to around 75-80 per cent now.The CM added that timely procurement of crops at the minimum support price and reduced power generation costs by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited had benefited farmers.Kejriwal said the party had fulfilled most of its promises in Punjab and would focus in the coming year on bringing more investment to the state and creating jobs for the youth.


