Contract farming enters state through Pune, Solapur…..Garima Mishra
Contract farming for foreign contractors that is popular in states such as Punjab and Gujarat is now making inroads in Maharashtra too. A Bahraini group, Nader & Ebrahim Group has entered into a contract farming deal with Pune-based Sanghar Group.
Confirming this, Jital Shah, a partner in the Sanghar Group, said, Some 100 farmers from Pune and Solapur district have signed a bond with us. At present, bananas will be grown by them on around 400 acres.
Under contract-farming, the two parties sign a contract under which the farmer cultivates crop as per the contractor. Instead of selling the produce in the open market, he sells it to the contractor who offers him a minimum guaranteed price along with an incentive. The farmer easily earns around 20-25 per cent more than what he can earn by selling it in the open market. he added.
To ensure that the crop is up to the mark, the farmers are given fertilisers, pesticides, medicines for the crop, the technical know-how, material and so on.
As of now, Sanghar Group has no plans of entering into contract-farming of crops such as sugarcane and rice. We plan to grow other fruits like grapes, pomegranate and pineapple. But that will also be for the local market and not for export, said Shah. The company is looking at the contract as a long-term deal.
The concept that allows crops to be grown for the market overseas has invited appreciation as well as criticism. Neeraj Jain, conveynor, Lokayat, Pune, said contract farming is paving way for the government to pull out of its traditional role and give way to corporatisation of agriculture. It will lead to the gradual wiping out of small and marginal farmers who will be forced to either sell his small patch of land or lease it out and become more or less a bonded labourer, he said.
But Bhushan Karandikar, a research collaborator with International Food Policy Research Institute, said the trend is good since the food processing industry is expanding. With food commodity transactions becoming bigger, its a win-win situation for all the parties involved.
Sunil Langade, an agricultural expert and a farmer, said the concept has its own advantages but the risk of land-grabbing will be there. The contract should be signed and discussed in the local language. Instead of borrowing from the company, the farmers should take loan from co-operative banks.(inputs from Pupul chatterjee)