Farms in Punjab diversifying

Farmers in Punjab have taken to diversifying agricultural practices, without the support of the state government. The movement towards diversifying agriculture initiated by the state government could not bear fruit apparently due to the lack of political will.

But some farmers in Punjab are experimenting with the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic crops with the support of NGOs (non-government organisations) and companies.

About 400 farmers in the state opted for the cultivation of stevia (a zero calorie sweetner that is approximately 300 times sweeter than sugar) last year. Indico Hi Tech Agro Rural Development of Women Welfare Society, an NGO, is helping farmers under contract farming. Stevia has a four-year life span and yields three to four crops per year. With an initial investment of Rs 1.5 lakh per acre, a farmer can earn about Rs 2 lakh per annum, for four years.

The project director for Punjab for Indico Hi Tech, Rajneesh Bansal, told Business Standard, they had decided to increase the area under stevia cultivation by ten times (approx 15,000 acres) in Punjab by March.

He said there was a huge demand for direct consumption of stevia, so they sell only 10-15 per cent of the total output to the processors. He added due to lucrative returns from stevia, banks were also coming forward to finance farmers.

The farmers in the state are diversifying into another medicinal plant 'safed musli'. With the help of Hyderabad-based Nandan Biomatrix Ltd, about 40 farmers in the state are growing safed musli in an area of 300 acres. With an initial investment of Rs 1.5 lakh per acre in safed musli, a farmer can earn a net income of about Rs 1 lakh per annum.

The company also plans to start growing aloe vera in Punjab by December. According to C L Jadhav, director, marketing, Nandan Biomatrix Ltd, the company is contemplating putting up an aloe vera extraction plant in Ludhiana to cut logistic costs. He told Business Standard the company was keen on public-private-partnership with the Punjab government to start a bio-diesel project in the state by growing Jathropa. The company has proposed setting up a demonstration, research and development, training and resource centre in the state for this project.

The farmers in various districts of Punjab understand the need to diversify.

But the absence of forward and backward linkages discourages them to take up new crops. The success of such models where farmers have ready buyers for their produce shows that there is a huge potential for new agriculture practices that can raise incomes of farmers substantially.