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Paper short abstract:

I argue that the Indus Basin agriculture sector is currently dominated by mainstream corporations and their technocratic solutions, influenced by the path dependency that started with colonial canal enclosure projects and continued during the green revolution.

Paper long abstract:

The process of land enclosure in the Indus Basin began during the colonial period and served as the food source for united India, and later for Pakistan and India. Post-colonial states continued the colonial legacy by establishing new canal colonies and considering large dam and canal infrastructures as “new temples of modernization”. These efforts transformed the once semi-arid and pastoral landscape of the Indus Basin into one of the most highly irrigated regions on Earth. Millions of acres of "waste land" were cultivated and allocated to farming communities, leading to a transformation of class and caste relationships while ensuring food production for the respective countries. Currently, these canal schemes are facing stagflation and there is a need to rethink agricultural production towards more sustainable practices. My research question tries to contribute to a crucial debate on the sustainable transition in the Indus Basin and how sustainable transition in agricultural practices helps to ensure food security and address inequalities caused by historic land allocations. I argue that the agriculture sector is currently dominated by mainstream corporations and their technocratic solutions, influenced by the path dependency that started with canal enclosure projects and continued during the green revolution. Historically, farmers' movements have focused on issues such as land rights and improving working conditions while paying less attention to the overall sustainability of the current agricultural production model. The future farmers' movement must prioritize the practical implementation of agroecology principles and actively reject the influence of large agricultural corporations.