Bengal farmers reap benefits of collaborative farming

Deftly separated columns of lush green shoots of potato tuber, spread sporadically at Bamanpara village in the Burdwan district of West Bengal, seems like a leaf out of Farmville, the virtual game where crops grow in a flick.

In contrast, stretches of rather wilted and drooping plants, clumsily placed, with dwarfed growth and withered leaves, define the broader landscape of the village.

The greener of the lot are the fields where food and beverage firm, PepsiCo, has entered into a collaboration with farmers for growing the Atlanta variety of potato, meant for making chips. The other farms produce commonly consumed varieties for the commodity, namely, Pukhraj, Chandramukhi and Jyoti.

 

Bamanpara village thrives on potatoes. However, much against the common notion, a good crop does not ensure good income for farmers. The business of the humble tuber is nothing less than a gamble. The gamble is not just limited to the nondescript village of Bamanpara, but a topic of wider national debate.

 

The risky business of potato farming

West Bengal, the second largest producer of potato in the country, accounts for 30 per cent of the total production. In spite of a large number of farmers relying on potato cultivation for a living, the prices are dependent on production from other states and weather conditions.  

An illustration of price movement of potato last year depicts the uncertainties associated with potato farming. Last year, West Bengal produced 8.5 million tonnes of the commodity, against 11 million tones the previous year. However, 11 million tonnes of potato production was an aberration, as the state produced a bumper crop in 2010. In spite of a relatively lower production of potato in 2011, farmers were forced to go for distress sale as there was no space in cold storages for storing the commodity. Arrival of excess crop from Punjab added to the woes of the farmers, and prices crashed to Rs 100-120 per 50 kg bag, against the cost of production of 200-250 per 50 kg bag by December 2011. However, by March, much of the crop stored in cold storages had depleted, as potato production in UP, the largest producer of the crop, was down by as much as 20 per cent. Thus, the prices of potato went up by as much as Rs 400 per 50 kg bag, giving huge profits to those who could store potatoes in cold storages.

“Our profits are not dependent on local production, but on crop losses in other states,” says Dipankar Pal, a farmer in Bamanpara village.

The collaborative farming  

While most farmers in Bamanpara test their luck with potato every year, there are people like Ramprasad Ghosal, who has opted for a different model of farming.  

In 2004, when Ghosal started sowing potato seeds at a gap of 26 inch between two rows of crop, against the conventional 15-17 inch gap, he was a subject of mockery in his village. In 2012, he represents 260 odd farmers in the village who collectively own 140 acre of land, for producing the Atlanta variety of potato for PepsiCo. This apart, some 31 varieties of potato from Peru and around 17 from Shimla are currently on trial in the fields.

For buying the raw materials, like seeds and fertilizer, this year, Ghosal has taken a loan of Rs 24 lakh from the State Bank of India, with PepsiCo being the guarantor.

The company has assured a price of Rs 305 per 50 kg bag to Ghosal and his team for this year’s potato production. The profits could be as high Rs 15,000 per acre of farming, against Rs 10,000 per acre for ordinary variety of potato farming.

“The profits are assured, as it would be inured to fluctuating prices, which is a big plus for farmers growing crops for PepsiCo,” says Ghosal.  PepsiCo’s collaborative farming programme in West Bengal currently operates in six districts – Burdwan, Hooghly, Bankura, Birbhum, Howrah and West Medinipore. The company procures around 60000 metric tones of commodity from about 10000 farmers in the state, and plans to increase to over 30,000 farmers by 2013.

Contract Farming Vs collaborative farming

Officially, West Bengal is opposed to corporate bodies interfacing with farmers under the banner of Contract Farming. However, West Bengal has not been opposed to any of the collaborative farming by firms such as PepsiCo. West Bengal has not amended the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee Act (APMC), and thus contract farming is not allowed in the state.

Earlier, Arup Roy, Agricultural Marketing Minister, West Bengal, had indicated that the state was preparing a draft to amend the act, but had specifically said that the state was skeptical of contract farming, hence would continue to oppose it.

However, for all practical purposes, contract farming, under the name of collaborative or partnership farming, is gaining popularity among farmers in West Bengal.

“It is a partnership for identifying good agricultural practices and markets for the farmers,” said Satyabrata Mukherjee, president of West Bengal Cold Chain and Cold Storage Welfare Association.

In fact, such form of partnership, which widely follows the principals of contract farming is not new in the state.

Take the instance of The Gontra Samabaya Krishi Unnayan Samity, a cooperative society in the district of Nadia, which started operation in 1952 with only 30 members and Rs 5000 as loan from a cooperative bank. The cooperative society, which has developed in a seed village in the area, now has a turnover of Rs 3.5 crore. The society provides raw materials to farmers, gives them technical know how and, gives assured returns to the farmers.

“Contract farming raises income of farmers, but it should be linked to a government body or any other representative body to safeguard the interest of farmers, says Pranab Chattopadhyay, professional director, Gontra Samabaya Krishi Unnayan Samity.