Potato farmers reap a harvest on Big Mac orders

Fast food major McDonald's India is procuring quality potatoes from the farmers in the state in a big way and has already bought 550 metric tonnes of the produce so far this year.

Farmers in the state, especially those from Banaskantha and Kheda districts, had produced 400 metric tonnes of high quality potatoes for McDonald's India in 2001.

With the company strengthening its network of restaurants in the northern and western regions of the country, the demand for potatoes will rise further, Amit Jatia, managing director of McDonald's India, western region, said.

"We helped farmers produce high quality potatoes. They are also given better prices for the commodity as they sell potatoes directly to McCain Foods Pvt Ltd, which we have partnered with for all raw materials," Jatia said.

The company is also working with farmers from Maharashtra for potato sourcing.

Agronomists interacted with farmers to demonstrate the right practices. They trained the farmers in agronomy techniques such as irrigation systems, sowing seeds, planting methods, fertiliser application programmes and storage.

McDonald's officials said farmers get a better price for their potatoes as they sell their produce directly to McCain Foods instead of commission agents.

"Gujarat farmers produced 'Kufri Jyoti' and 'Kuri Bhaksha' varieties of potatoes prior to their association with McDonald's," Jatia said.

Now they produce better quality potatoes, he said.

"Farmers in Gujarat used seeds of the preceding crop, which caused a degradation of quality. It also replicated the diseases that the previous crop suffered. We offered them healthy seed materials without or with very minimal disease infested tubes," Jatia said.