Cropped by corporates

The landscape is achingly beautiful. Most of Punjab may be bathed in gold, after a harvest of wheat, but this patch of Machhiwara in Ropar d...

The landscape is achingly beautiful. Most of Punjab may be bathed in gold, after a harvest of wheat, but this patch of Machhiwara in Ropar district is glorious in shades of green, yellow and ochre.

It8217;s the handiwork of a bunch of progressive farmers, who8217;ve chosen to diversify into mint, corn, sunflower, vegetables, et al, by tying up with multinationals. They are practising contract farming CF, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh8217;s pet mantra for rejuvenating agriculture in the state. This is an arrangement in which a farmer enters into a contract with a company for supplying his produce to the latter at a pre-determined price regardless of market fluctuations.

8216;8216;We started it four years ago,8217;8217; says Guljinder Singh Gill, an NRI who returned to farm at Machhiwara, and now spearheads the local Lions Club where the farmers take all their cropping decisions. It was a stray camp by Indomint Agriproducts, a subsidiary of the US-based A M Todd, that first tempted them to try mint. 8216;8216;They packaged it as the third crop after paddy, and potato besides assuring us of a good price,8217;8217; recalls Parminder Singh.

Today he grows peppermint on 56 acres. While Indomint picks up his mint crop, Pepsico buys his potatoes, one reason why the present crash in prices has left him unscathed.

CF came to Punjab in the early 8217;90s, thanks to Pepsico. Kirpa Shankar Saroj, MD of the Punjab Agro Food Grains Corporation, says their role is that of a facilitator between companies and farmers. 8216;8216;Our larger objective is to break free of the wheat-paddy jinx that8217;s playing havoc with the soil and water table by promoting crops that are high on profits, but low on water and fertiliser requirement.8217;8217;

Every district has been given an informal target. Patiala DC Tejvir Singh is looking forward to pulses on an area of 1,000 acres and corn on 5,000, all under CF. B S Kahlon, chief agriculture officer of Jalandhar district, envisages 12,000 acres of maize and 3,000 acres of basmati. The farmers, he says, are quite receptive to the idea. Sarabjyot Dhillon, a farmer at Nabha, is among them. Dhillon, an NRI, wears two hats: of a farmer and a seed-buyer. As the latter, he signs contracts with farmers to buy their seeds; as the former, he8217;s inked a deal with Punjab Agro to grow barley.

The deals vary from company to company. Vikas Srivsatva, business controller, Mahindra Shubhlabh, says they offer farmers quality seeds, implements, advise, soil-testing, et al, but all for a price. 8216;8216;We8217;ll also help them in getting credit from the ICICI bank,8217;8217; says Vikas.

Rajendra P Ghogale, MD, Indomint, says he was attracted to it by the mix of right climate, hardworking farmers and Punjab Agricultural University. Today, more than 1,000 farmers in Punjab have contracted out 10,000 acres of land to him. The contract is also inked in trust. Not all contracts work out happily though. Jagdeep Singh, a farmer with a fetish for Nike, is sore with Punjab Agro which talked him into growing corn that failed. 8216;8216;The yield was 25 percent of what they8217;d promised,8217;8217; he gripes. Dhillon too is trying to put a failed sarson crop behind him. 8216;8216;The seeds were the company8217;s,8217;8217; he laments. There are others who say firms refuse to buy the produce at pre-determined rates when the market prices fall. Experts have their own reservations.

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8216;8216;The government should have first passed an Act to negotiate the conditions of contract besides making budgetary allocations for Punjab Agro, the agency deputed to procure new crops,8217;8217; says Dr Sucha Singh Gill, an economist from Punjabi University. Dr Sukhpal warns that the state should play a regulatory role lest it burns its fingers. But farmers seem willing to take the risk.

8216;Contract farming is vital to salvage the soil8217;

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh is confident that contract farming will usher in a second Green Revolution in Punjab. Here, he elaborates on his vision for the future.

ON GOVT AID
We8217;ve asked the Central Government to give us a subsidy of Rs 1,280 crore to break the wheat-paddy cycle. The government loses Rs 5,000 crore in storage and Punjab contributes 50 percent to this pool. By giving us this money, it will be saving around Rs 3,000 crore.

INDUSTRY AS CATALYST
In the last month or so, we8217;ve signed MoUs with companies to encourage contract farming. Escorts, for instance, has promised to take 30,000 acres on contract, while the Mahindras have pledged 100,000 acres. These companies will also give their knowhow to our farmers8212;the Mahindras, for instance, will be bringing in 1,000 extension workers to monitor the crops.

THE BIG PLAN
This year, we plan to introduce contract farming on three lakh acres, next year the number will double to 6 lakh so that by 2007, we will have 25 lakh acres, one-fourth of Punjab, on contract.

SALVAGING THE SOIL
Diversification via contract farming is vital to salvage the soil. Right now, the water table is falling dangerously and the soil is getting depleted of micro-nutrients with every crop.

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ROLE OF PAU
PAU will be the umbrella organisation. Every seed grown in Punjab will need to have its approval.

FAVOURED CROPS
Instead of coarse rice grains, we are encouraging basmati, which not only commands an export market but also needs less water. We are encouraging maize, which also requires just one watering. Every year, India imports Rs 10,000 crore worth of pulses and oilseeds. We are promoting production of mustard and other pulses.