In great demand from by food processors, the ‘Pepsi’ potato variety has a lower yield and costs more to cultivate, but sells for more than double the ‘Jyoti’ price. Mintu Ghosh, a potato farmer from Bankura district (some 200 km from Kolkata) is happy that he took the decision to scale up cultivation of potatoes for PepsiCo India.
He is among several farmers in Bengal who are increasingly taking to cultivation of potatoes for processing by companies such as Pepsico, ITC and Parle Agro.
Ghosh, who owns around 4 acres, used to cultivate the common Jyoti variety on the largest part of his land and the “Pepsi” variety (as it is commonly known) on the remaining area till about two years ago. Then he decided to increase cultivation of the Pepsi potatoes last year following a price crash of the tuber for two successive years.
In 2017, bumper production of potato saw prices crashing. In 2018 again, though production was nearly 9 per cent lower as compared to 2017, prices, which were initially firm, started dipping after August-September as farmers and traders had loaded excess stock in cold storages in anticipation of prices firming up.
For farmers engaged in PepsiCo’s collaborative farming, it is not just about an assured buy-back at pre-agreed prices but also the handholding support extended by the company. Apart from supplying high-quality planting material, the company regularly conducts sessions on capability building for growers; provides training on better agro practices, judicious use of fertilisers, chemicals and water.
Growing demand
“There has been close to 20-25 per cent growth in the number of farmers going in for cultivation of such potatoes (used for processing) on a year-on-year basis. The area under cultivation has also witnessed a steady rise and has increased by nearly 10 per cent this year as compared to last year,” said Ram Pada Pal, owner of Sri Gourango cold storage.
Source: thehindubusinessline.com
