Formulate land leasing Act for contract farming: CII to Centre

Industry body CII has pitched for a model land leasing Act, which would authorise companies to undertake farming in land taken on contract basis, while farmers would continue to remain owners of their land.     

In a representation to Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, CII said legalising land leasing would help farmers get more for land while farm yield would rise after deployment of sophisticated technology by the private sector.     

"We have urged the Centre to formulate a model land leasing Act whereby companies would get land from farmers on lease, preferably a long-term one, while farmers would continue to be the owners of their land. The company concerned would then use the land," CII National Council for Agriculture Chairman Rakesh Bharti Mittal told reporters.     

The CII recommendation seems to have come after farmers in some states showed reluctance to give their land to firms on a lease basis fearing they may lose ownership of their land in this process.     

Currently, states like Punjab have officially accepted leasing while some others have not.     

Mittal, who is also the vice-chairman and managing director of Bharti Enterprises that export fruits and vegetables under the brand name 'Fieldfresh', said such a move would help raise yield, especially when the average land holding is shrinking, impeding the adoption of new technology and other better farm practices.

Not just this, he argued that legalising farm contract would benefit farmers. For instance, he said, while farmers in Punjab are being given about Rs 20,000 for the lease of one acre of land, those in Uttar Pradesh get only Rs 7,000, as land leasing is not an "officially formal practice" in the latter.     

Moreover, the industry chamber has said the land lease should be allowed for longer tenure, at least 10 years, without "alienating the ownership rights of farmers", arguing that companies involved would have some time to invest in advanced equipment for farming.