LF expects rich harvest from contract farming

WEST BENGAL ASSEMBLY POLL 2006

Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattachrajee's affair with the corporate sector is getting thumbs up from farmers in West Bengal. It's still early days of reforms, but there are visible signs of change in the rural landscape.

About 50 km from Kolkata, Fritolay, a sister concern of Pepsico, is a household name in dozens of villages in Amta area of Howrah district.

It was three years back that the snack food arm of Pepsico opened a factory at Sankrail, located on the outskirts of the city, on the invitation of the state government.

Scores of farmers hailing from several districts including Hoogly, Burdwan, Banjura, Birbhum and parts of Howrah, swear by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today. The much reviled concept of contract farming has done the trick for them.

Farmers never had it so good since Fritolay entered into agreements with several cooperative societies in these districts two years back for production of potatoes to make chips.

One such cooperative society, Betai Samabay Krishi Unnayan Samiti, at Amta had started it with about a hundred farmers in 2004-05. At the time of sowing, the company fixed the price of potatoes that it would procure from farmers at Rs 200 per bag (50 kg potatoes).

Apart from the assured returns on their produce, what came as a big relief to farmers was the fact that the market price of potatoes that year was only Rs 110-115 per bag.

Naturally, the number of farmers cultivating potatoes for the company through Betai cooperative more than quadrupled in 2005-06, and so did the area of land on which it was cultivated "" from 100 bighas to over 400 bighas.

"Full credit goes to the government for bringing this company here, the first in West Bengal. Farmers have got a new lease of life," said Niwai Pramanik, manager of Betai cooperative society.

For all fears about exploitation of farmers, it is the other way round here. This year a large number of farmers who were given seeds (cost mostly borne by them) and technical support by the company broke off the agreement and sold in the open market, which offered Rs 30 to 40 more than the company.

The market price apparently shot up because of the scarcity of potatoes in southern states.

But this is only an aberration, said Sushil Bhuinwa, a potato grower and also office-bearer of the cooperative society.

"I am 62 and have been growing potatoes since childhood. Seldom did I get good returns in the market and I mostly suffered loss due to damage to crops or fluctuations in the market. Here you are getting the price right at the time of sowing, plus quality seeds and technical support. Farmers are wise enough to understand it," he said.