THOUSANDS of Indian farmers clashed with police today during protests demanding the abolition of new farming laws which they say will reduce their earnings and give more powers to corporations.

The farmers, who were travelling towards the capital New Delhi on tractors and motorcycles, flung police barricades into a river and some threw bricks and stones at officers. 

Police stopped them by firing tear gas and water cannon, but there were no immediate reports of injuries. 

Hundreds of police were also deployed at the boundary between New Delhi and northern state of Haryana to block the protesters.

The farmers claim that the new laws, which were approved by parliament in September, could cause the government to stop buying their grain at guaranteed prices, forcing them to sell to corporations that would pay them less. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has said that the laws are aimed at reforming Indian agriculture by giving farmers the freedom to market their produce and boosting growth in the sector through private investment.

Members of farmers’ unions have camped on highways in Punjab and Haryana for the last two months.

They will meeting with the government next Thursday for a second round of negotiations after the first failed last month. 

Farmers often complain of being ignored and hold frequent protests to demand better crop prices, more loan waivers and irrigation systems to guarantee water during dry spells.

More than half of India’s farmers are in debt and 20,638 killed themselves last year and the year before, according to India’s National Crime Records Bureau, with the blame being pinned on poor crop yields, financial devastation, a lack of community support and other factors.