A new crop of farmers

Quality Veg Produce,an endeavour of about 50 progressive farmers from Punjabs vegetable-growing belt of Ludhiana,Patiala,Jalandhar and Fatehgarh Sahib districts,is promoting the use of technology,negotiating prices with retail chains and exploring potential markets,both domestic and overseas,for their veggies that are

certified safe in accordance with the norms of use of fertlizers and pesticide residue.

It took 40-year-old Davinder Singh of Mushkabad in Ludhianas Samrala district and 34-year-old Meharban Singh Dhaliwal of Nabha in Patiala district six to seven years of conventional farming to realise the potential of diversifying into exotic and high-value veggies.

In 2008,when 34-year-old Sikander Tiwana,an MBA based in UK visited their farms,he,too,replicated their success on his 15-acre farm at Saholi village in Patiala. With an MBA on board as one of the directors,the three started Quality Veg Produce to reach out to more vegetable growers and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) owning farms in Punjab .

In two years,the company has grown to 50 members including NRIs such as United States-based Uday Pal Singh,who is now growing vegetables in 10 acres of his 50 acres at Sanyar Kheri village in Patiala. Davinder and Meharban now make nearly Rs 70,000-80,000 per acre from vegetables such as tomatoes,green chillis,seedless cucumber and bitter and long gourd,and Rs 4-5 lakh an acre from capsicums that are grown using polyhouses and low-tunnel technology to protect the crop from frost and cold from December to its flowering stage in February.

We are selling the concept of diversification through practice. Punjab s groundwater resources are critical and use of NPK (Nitrogen,Phosphorous and Potassium) fertilizers and pesticides is indiscriminate. We use drip irrigation to minimise use of water and a Jalandhar-based agency inspects and certifies our produce on pesticide residue before it reaches Walmart,Tatas Khet Se stores and five-star hotels, says Davinder and Meharban.

The high returns have not only transformed them from farmers toiling in their fields to wearing formal three-piece suits while delivering vegetable consignments at stores and hotels but also globetrotters.

Davinder had last year visited Russia,which,he says,is a good market for chillis; Meharban visited Sikander in UK to work out export of long gourds.

In Russia,chillis sell for Rs 200 per kg and the retail price for long gourds in UK is two pounds per kilogram. Later this year,we will have pack houses at our farms complete with grading,packing and cooling facilities to seal in freshness of the vegetables right at the farm. Not only a major part of our produce will be prevented from going waste,we will also be able to connect to the world markets, says Davinder.

The packhouses being developed by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Agency (APEDA) of Union Ministry of Commerce will also give farmers offering their land for packhouses subsidy in packaging and flight charges,they add.

Like kinnows among fruits,it is high-value vegetables that are harvesting millionaires in Punjabs diversification story. An increasing number of farmers are going for high-value vegetables in the state, says deputy director,horticulture,Gurkanwal Singh.

As per the department,the area under vegetables has gone up from 1,53,610 hectares in 2003-04 to 18,3346 hectares in 2009-10 and is likely to reach 1,88,178 hectares in 2010-11. However,the area under fruits has jumped by nearly 20,000 hectares from 43,721 hectares to 67,554 hectares in 2009-10 and is expected to touch 71,724 hectares in 2010-11,mainly driven by kinnows,which occupy more than half 41,000 hectares of it.