Taking a leaf out of the success stories of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the region, the farming community in Haryana is making an effort to emulate the concept of clusters.
Farmers integrated through cooperative societies in the state have formed clusters to grow crops and entered into buyback arrangements with different industry verticals.
This transformation can be observed in the Desi wheat (C-306) crop in the districts of Jhajjar, Gurgaon and Mewat in southern Haryana, and in a high-yielding variety of barley (DWR UB-52) in the Sirsa, Hisar, Fatehabad and Bhiwani districts. The malt industry prefers this variety of barley and contract farmers are getting better returns from it than farmers who grow conventional varieties of barley.
During the 2009-10 Rabi crop year, barley under contract farming was purchased at Rs 1,000 per quintal, whereas the prevailing price of barley in the market was Rs 850 per quintal. The initiative was taken by Hafed (Haryana Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited) four years ago.
“We decided to arrange the farmers of the nearby villages in clusters to provide them with extension services and a buyback arrangement for crops that could fetch better returns for them,” said Anil Malik, the managing director of Hafed.
He added that Hafed purchases Desi wheat C-306 from farmers directly and also helps corporate players like United Breweries to make buyback deals with farmers for barley.
Growing the same crop in a cluster raises the negotiating power of farmers. Farmers in the village of Amadalshahpur in Jhajjar district have changed the economics of agriculture by saving on input costs. A switchover to Desi wheat (C-306) from the conventional wheat-paddy cycle has enriched these farmers.
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Sukhbir Singh of Amboli village (in Jhajjar district) said he grows Desi wheat C-306 at half the cost of conventional varieties: “Desi wheat C-306 consumes less DAP, less urea, less water and a small quantity of pesticides.”
While the minimum support price of wheat has been pegged at Rs 1,120 per quintal, C-306 wheat could fetch Rs 1,700-1,750 per quintal, he added. Although the yield per acre of Desi wheat (about 10 quintal per acre) is lower than that of conventional varieties (about 16 quintal per acre), the low input cost and better remuneration makes the proposition economically viable.