West Bengal against contract farming

The West Bengal agriculture minister, Kamal Guha yesterday reaffirmed that the West Bengal government was against contract farming in the state for contract farming allegedly did not help farmers in the long run.

"There are ample example to suggest that the farmers would be losers in the long run. There are examples where the companies have procured agricultural produce from the farmers at fair prices in the first couple of years, while with passage of time, prices paid to farmers had come down," Guha told members of the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce in the city on Wednesday.

The agriculture minister alleged contract farming would hurt farmers growing cash-crops like jute.

"With as many as 40 lakh farmers directly involved in jute cultivation, and another 1 crore related with jute production, the state government cannot risk allowance of contract farming in the state," he added.

He said the state government instead was trying to increase the amount of land under cultivation by trying to convert fallow and other lands previously considered uncultivable.

"Land under cultivation in the recent past have in fact come under pressure with demand for agricultural produce on the rise," he added.

The state government was in addition looking at ways and means of helping farmers to migrate to different crops that had the potential of fetching better returns for them.

Citing examples, Guha said the government has been helping farmers to cultivate groundnut and potato in areas which till now never grown such crops. The agriculture department was looking at the potential of growing cotton in the Sunderban areas and north Bengal districts.