Farmers sang, danced and cheered atop their tractor trolleys as they began their journey home from Delhi’s borders on Saturday, dismantling their makeshift tents and langars at the end of a yearlong agitation.

As they drove through neighbouring states, people gathered along the Delhi-Karnal-Ambala and Delhi-Hisar national highways as well as other routes to welcome them with sweets and garlands.

Tractors sporting the national flag and the flags of farmer bodies played Punjabi songs of victory. The vehicles were loaded with cots, mattresses, utensils and other belongings that the farmers had earlier carried to the agitation sites.

Emotions ran high on Delhi’s borders as the farmers performed ardas (prayers) and havans and set off for their homes in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in convoys of tractor trolleys, decorated with colourful flowers and lights.

By 4pm, less than a quarter of the protesters were left at the Singhu border. At the Ghazipur border, the dismantling of shelters was on in full swing but the farmers said the site would be vacated completely only by Wednesday.

Farmers celebrate at Tikri border PTI Photo

Bhupender Singh, 40, beamed at reporters as he prepared to leave the Ghazipur border for Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, on a tractor trolley with fellow villagers.

“My children are very excited. We shall finally meet each other after a year,” he said.

“I’m very, very happy. Over the phone they would always ask, ‘Papa, ghar kab aaoge (When will you be back)?’ That I’m heading home in victory makes me particularly proud.”

Many local people, including shopkeepers who had suffered because of the road blockades, exuded a sense of relief.

Small-time scrap dealers had a field day at the Singhu border, collecting the bamboo poles, tarpaulin sheets, plastic and wood pieces left behind.

But the poor, slum children and homeless who ate free at the farmers’ langars and slept in their tents were forlorn and anxious about the future.

A farmer rejoices PTI Photo

The farmers’ large convoys caused traffic jams at many places on the Delhi-Haryana national highway and other roads.

Two farmers from Muktsar, Punjab, were killed when their tractor-trailer was hit by a truck in Hisar, Haryana, while they were returning home from Delhi’s Tikri border. Police said a third farmer was seriously injured in the accident.

On some of the routes, village youths and women performed the bhangra to dhol beats. At Khanauri near Punjab, villagers burst firecrackers.

Preparations had been made at various toll plazas and other places along the highways to welcome the returning farmers.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha headquarters — the nerve centre of the agitation — was deserted on Saturday.

Kuljeet Singh Aulakh, from Moga in Punjab, embraced his fellow farmers before starting his journey home from the Singhu border.

“This had become our home for the past one year. This movement united us all as we fought together against the black farm laws irrespective of caste, creed and religion,” he said.

“This is a historic moment and the victory of the movement is even bigger.”

At the Ghazipur border, Jitender Chaudhary was busy preparing his tractor trolley to return home to Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh.

“We are fortunate that we participated in a historic movement against the three farm laws imposed on us by the central government. We have made new friends and gained a different experience here during the agitation,” he said.

Farmer leaders said they would meet again on January 15 to see if the government had kept its promise to honour their pending demands.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal praised the farmers’ “patience, courage and unity” in a tweet.