Parthi Chaudhary is a police official with the Anti-Corruption Bureau, posted at Mehsana in Gujarat. He is in the news for busting records, not white collar scams. Three years ago, Chaudhary picked 87.188 tonnes of potatoes from every hectare of his farm in Palanpur, the headquarters of Banaskantha district. The event, he says, was witnessed by a team put together by the collector, including agriculture experts from nearby Dantiwada University. The buzz in this part of the country is that it is a world record, though a Google search throws up another claimant, from Bihar, who is said to have harvested 108.8 tonnes of potato earlier this year. India’s best average yield, from Gujarat and Punjab, is 26 tonnes a hectare.
Chaudhary treats his 90-acre farm as nature’s manufactory. For him agriculture is an industrial activity which can be broken up into discrete processes that play on the aspects that aid growth and tamp down those that do not to coax the best out of soil and seed. His employees are partners in the venture: They get a share of the produce under the prevalent practice of bhagidari (sharing). To win them over to his management style, Chaudhary has devised a matrix of 100 points. A score of 70 plus gets a bonus; below 50 percent earns a penalty. So far there have been only winners.
We are discussing Lady Rosetta at the Rajpath Club in Ahmedabad. It is a potato variety high in solids and low in sugar, and named after its bashful skin. Chaudhary’s cultivated lady is for Chandubhai Virani of Rajkot’s Balaji Wafers. PepsiCo is also a suitor. (For fries, the varieties are long, not round, like Innovator and Kennebec). The yield this year was 67 tonnes a hectare. Chaudhary says he has 1,400 tonnes in cold storage. At the current price of Rs 14 a kg, the stock is worth Rs 1.96 crore. That is a near 300 percent return in just 120 days on investment of Rs 52 lakh.
Banaskantha has known potato farming from the days of the British Raj, but it is Canada’s McCain Foods, the family-owned global supplier to McDonald’s, and a seller of own-brand wedges, fries and tikkies, that has taught farmers here to grow them scientifically. McCain followed McDonald’s to India in 1998. It worked on potatoes in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh but found the cold weather inhibiting weight gain and adding sugar (which caramelises and turns fries dirty brown). West Bengal, like Gujarat, has the ideal climate, but plot sizes are too small for contract farming, so it gave up trials about three years ago.
McCain found enormous waste in Gujarat. Flood irrigation was the practice; the water flushed would add up to a 750 mm column by the end of the crop season. But potatoes need moisture, not drenching. Just as much water should be replenished as evaporates from soil and transpires through leaves. Farmers lavished nitrogenous fertiliser to make up for the nutrient leaching through the sandy soil. High humidity brought pest and fungal attacks.
McCain persuaded farmers to use sprinklers, cutting water and nitrogen use by a third. They are commonplace now, aided by government subsidies, and eight-hour rationed power supply to the farm grid. How long the sprinklers should be on is determined by data provided by the company’s two weather stations, one at a spot on the way to Mt Abu (in Rajasthan), and the other at Himmatnagar in Sabarkantha district. Through phone calls and text messages, field staff convey the information to farmers. Other innovations have reduced planting time and energy use in cold storages.
McCain began contract farming in 2006 with four farmers and 16 acres in Badgam village. Today, 900 of them assure it a produce of 4,500 acres. The landholdings in this area are quite big. Half the farmers own more than 10 acres each. But everyone, small or big, is invited, says procurement officer Gopal Dass Sharma, who is known to be free with agronomic advice even to farmers not on contract. The company’s plant at Mehsana has an appetite of 50,000 tonnes a year, most of which is mopped up from within the vicinity.
In November, at the beginning of the potato season, farmers sign a contract pledging to supply at least 10 times the quantity of seed by the third week of March, after which purchases stop. The quality parameters are specified; a detailed schedule of farming practices, written in Gujarati, is provided for each variety of potato. Agronomic advice is also available on call. Farmers get seed spuds for half the price; the rest is deducted from the sale price. If farmers default, post-dated cheques are encashed.
Farmers start with McCain and, like Parthi Chaudhary, move on within a few years, after they get a hang of the art. Often they grow for multiple buyers. Unlike McCain, PepsiCo and Balaji Wafers buy through agents, who are paid a fee for seed supplied and potato procured at a price announced at the beginning of the season. These vendors dip into the open market if procurement falls short of contracted quantity.
An amalgam of factors—a law that allows farmers to sell directly rather than through mandis; a choice of buyers; a rash of cold storages incentivised by subsidies and regular power supply; a network of good rural roads and access to information on the internet and the mobile phone—has given farmers better control over their lives.
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(This story appears in the 09 August, 2013 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
Great Post. Kindly let me know if this project will work in Motihari/Bihar.
on Jun 3, 2015i have a agricluture land in Gujarat..want to start up a similar activity here..please provide me with deatils on how to go about it..really helpful...email id murtuza_a123@yahoo.co.in
on Sep 17, 2014Kindly give E mail id & phone no of Mr.Chaudhary my id rvdv7643@gmail.com
on Sep 15, 2014Very Inspiring.. Would like to check if you have simillar Contract Manufacturing & Procurement possible in Kolhpaur. We have 10 Acres of suitable land. Wishing you all the best for future !!!
on Aug 22, 2014Dear Devraj, Please send an email to vivianfernandesonly@gmail.com and I will send you Mr Chaurdhary\'s contacts. Regards Vivian
on Aug 4, 2014dear bro, if you give mail id and phone no parthi chaudhary is so hlepful to me.thanks
on Aug 4, 2014Brilliant story. Genius writer!
on Oct 7, 2013Hi ! Even I am from Banaskantha District ( Palanpur ), we have got more than 50 acres of land with availability of water for agriculture. I would like to do similar potato farming to benefit both partners . Would really appreciate to get contact details ( email id / phone no) of Mr. Chaudhary to share his experience and project. Thanks
on Sep 6, 2013such a wonderful article, it helps to make farmers understand the essence even out side India....plse if you can locate for me the email ID of Mr.Chaudhary.
on Aug 23, 2013its fells well to know about any farmers sucsses ,i am also an farmer of mp,pls spread more and more like this information so farmers can may practise the same in ther area ,
on Aug 18, 2013Kindly give E mail id of Mr.Chaudhary
on Aug 16, 2013A story that cuts through the entire value chain. We can see sowing, care, fertilizer, water technology, yeild and finally market. All very well integrated. This truly is a sustainable way forward How can he industry get together to help other farmers learn and emulate?
on Aug 9, 2013A story...cutting across the value chain...and a complete turn around the farmers life...best practices at its best....sowing, care, water, fertilisers, yields and then market. A very sustainable way forward. How can the industry get together to help other farmers do this well?
on Aug 9, 2013Can this model be tried in Tamil Nadu in Ooty/Kodaikanal/Salem districts where the climate may suit the crop....?
on Aug 9, 2013It\'s really inspiring and proud story for all our Indian farmer. This practice need to spread across the India. Hats off to Mr. Chaudhary and best wishes for future endeavors.
on Aug 9, 2013Have you considered organic farming for your products?
on Aug 7, 2013Very inspiring and thought changing success stories. Contact details of concerned farmers and officials will be beneficial for readers to spread the word and also improve rest of the country
on Aug 5, 2013Yes...contact details will certainly help persons like me who can emulate...
on Aug 9, 2013Inspiring story. Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
on Aug 2, 2013