After more than a year of protesting at Delhi's borders, farmers' unions called off their agitation on Thursday. They will now begin heading back home.

Farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chadhuni said, "The Samyukta Kisan Morcha-led farmers’ agitation is being suspended because the Centre has agreed to our demands."

He added that the agitation could be resumed if the Centre "backtracks from its promises". "SKM will hold monthly review meetings and act accordingly," he said.

"Over 500 organisations fought this sustained agitation. We faced the government's might, misinformation campaign, Covid, change of weather - winters and summers. And yet we won the battle," said President of the All India Kisan Sabha Ashok Dhawale.

A breakthrough came this week when the farmers’ leaders received letters from the government listing steps it would take to meet their demands. In an about-turn last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the withdrawal of the farm laws passed by Parliament in September last year.

The government had insisted that the laws, which would lead to a deregulated market with more private-sector control of agriculture, were urgently needed to modernize Indian farming.

The protesters said the laws would drastically reduce their incomes and leave them at the mercy of big corporations. They demanded that the government guarantee prices for certain essential crops such as wheat and rice, a system introduced in the 1960s to help India shore up its food reserves and prevent shortages.

Currently, an overwhelming majority of farmers sell only to government-sanctioned marketplaces at fixed prices.

Farmers form one of India’s most influential voting blocs. Modi’s decision to scrap the laws came ahead of elections early next year in key states Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab, where his Bharatiya Janata Party is eager to increase its power.