Seeds of Hope ; in Its Bid to Put the Cheapest and Best Produce On Store Shelves, Organised Retail Could End Up Helping the Indian Farmer.
Author: Shalini S. Dagar Additional Reporting By Kapil Bajaj
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Summary
Agriculture's Second Wind
It has never been an easy relationship between corporate India and farmers. Yet, as emerging retail chains scour rural India to replenish their store shelves, this is poised to change.See the full content of this document
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Seeds of Hope ; in Its Bid to Put the Cheapest and Best Produce On Store Shelves, Organised Retail Could End Up Helping the Indian Farmer.
Shalini S. Dagar
Sukhjit Singh Aulakh, 43, is no mascot for Indian agriculture plodding along at 1 or 2 per cent growth rates or even for despair and debt-laden farmers driven to suicide. A prosperous farmer in Jalowal area of Punjab, Aulakh has around 50 acres of land under his production-partially his own land and the rest leased from others. Apart from staples wheat and paddy, he has grown potatoes, chillies, tomatoes and groundnuts in the past. He is now mulling growing baby corn and exotic vegetables on his fields. "In the coming season, I am planning a trial of baby corn on half an acre," he says softly.How does he manage to stay ahead of the curve? Well,...See the full content of this document