WEST BENGAL FARMERS' BUMPER POTATO CROP MEANS PROBLEMS NOT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KOLKATA 000126 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT PLEASE PASS USTR - AADLER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ECON EFIN SENV IN SUBJECT: WEST BENGAL FARMERS' BUMPER POTATO CROP MEANS PROBLEMS NOT PROFITS KOLKATA 00000126 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (U) On March 17, Econoff traveled to Magra in West Bengal's Hooghly District (approximately 50 miles northwest of Kolkata) to tour a potato cold storage facility and discuss the wholesale market for the potato crop in the state. West Bengal is experiencing a glut in its potato crop market and cold storage facilities appear to be running at almost full capacity as they work to manage a large flow of potato sacks into their refrigerated warehouses each day. Farmers and traders who have purchased the produce look to cold storage operations in Hooghly as a means to extend the life of their crop while waiting out the current drop in prices. However, these market fluctuations are not the only concern for these back-end players; lack of equal access to buyers, insufficient cold storage capacity, and problems realizing the full profit of goods sold continue to plague the potato supply chain each year and remain overarching concerns. The difficulties experienced by the West Bengal potato farmers reflect the overall problem with India's agricultural sector as poor distribution and infrastructure means that even as inflationary pressures cause rising prices of basic food items for the Indian consumer, farmers are unable to get decent returns for their crops. End Summary. -------------- Potato Glut -------------- ¶2. (U) A long winter season and better crop management has led to record potato production in West Bengal this year. According to press reports, advance estimates by the West Bengal government put potato production this year at around 80 lakh tons (8 million),an increase of almost 60 percent over last year's production of 50.52 lakh tons (about 5 million). (Note: Last year's potato crop was severely impacted by a blight that damaged 85 percent of the cultivable land. End note.) The increase in produce comes despite the fact that the total area used for growing the crop decreased by 22 percent to a little more than 900,000 acres in the last year. In response, prices for the vegetable in retail markets and with wholesalers have fallen by about 30 percent compared to last year. Around 45 lakh tons (4.5 million) of the potato crop will be consumed within the state of West Bengal, while the rest is exported to other states and neighboring countries. ¶3. (U) To date, 25 percent of the harvested potato crop has been placed in cold storage, according to press. The total capacity of the 370 potato cold storage facilities in West Bengal is about 5.3 million tons, according to media figures, and while some farmers were able to sell their crops early in the harvest season for around Rs 180 (about USD 4.50) per 50 kg sack many are now bringing their crop directly to the cold storage facilities or working with middlemen traders - who buy, transport and package the produce - in order to extend the shelf life of their crop and wait out the current slump in prices. -------------- Cold Storage Solution -------------- ¶4. (U) On March 17 Econoff met with the owner and operator of a cold storage facility in West Bengal and discussed the benefits and interests of both traders and farmers who are utilizing this service. The Santa Cold Storage operation in Magra, Hooghly District is about 50 miles northwest of Kolkata in the heart of the district's potato farming area. Ramesh Periwal, the owner of Santa Cold Storage, explained that he will provide potato crop storage for about 15,000 farmers at a capacity of about 11,000 tons in a five story ammonia-refrigerated structure from February 26 to November 30 of this year. Servicing an area of about 5,000 acres, Periwal's operation is a market where farmers, traders, and wholesale buyers converge. ¶5. (U) Open for around 10 hours each day, Periwal's facility weighs, labels, and stores the potato crop at Rs 93 (about USD 2.33) per 50 kg sack. This price is set by the West Bengal Agricultural Marketing Department each year with minimal input from the cold storage operators, according to Periwal, whose cold storage facility is licensed by the same government outfit. Once a farmer's produce is checked into the facility, he is provided receipt that shows the weight and number of potato sacks held in the warehouse, which can then be transferred and sold at the farmer's discretion. (Comment: There is a large market for these potato bonds based on speculation and other factors. This market is controlled by the cartels of potato traders, cold storage owners, wholesalers and retailers with KOLKATA 00000126 002.2 OF 003 farmers receiving no part of the speculative profits. End comment.). ¶6. (U) While Periwal's efforts at the moment are focused on storing the crop, from May to December he expects to see more traders and wholesalers coming into the facility to bring out bags that they have purchased from farmers, as well as an influx of farmers who have arranged for other means of transporting their goods to the market. At that time, the potatoes will be re-packaged, weighed, and graded before continuing along the supply chain to retail outlets. According to Periwal, about four to six percent of the stored crop becomes inedible due to rot. However the benefits of extending a potato's shelf life by almost six months (without refrigeration, the crop usually lasts between six to eight weeks),far outweigh these minimal risks. Both farmers and middlemen are pleased by the pricing stability and security provided by an extended selling season, which they say cuts down on short term fluctuations in the market. -------------- The Farmer's and Trader's Perspectives -------------- ¶7. (U) Highlighting the impact of excess product on the market, all the farmers with whom we spoke said that they had brought crop in for storage because their costs of production were not being met at the current prices offered for the produce. According to the farmers, the production cost for a 50 kg packet is Rs 120 (about USD 3.00),and they are can currently sell these sacks for Rs 80 to 100 (USD 2-2.5) directly from their farms. Hoping the market will yield better prices in the next few months, the farmers have opted to use cold storage to extend the life of their crop. They believe the expenditure of time and effort put into packaging and transporting the crop to cold storage, the Rs 20 (about USD 0.50) handling fee per sack charged by the cold storage facility, and the Rs 93 rent for the season, will be met before they are required to remove the produce from Periwal's facility in the end of November. ¶8. (U) The farmers we spoke to said that 70 percent of their crop this year will go as a distress sale (i.e. loss minimization effort) and reminds them of a similar glut in 1997. Farmers faulted the government and the lack of a structured network of buyers for the lag in their ability to sell at a profit. Traditionally, the Government of West Bengal has promised a fixed price to potato farmers at which they can wholesale their crop. However, farmer's complained that this price has yet to be set, which has forced them to store their crop rather than wait and possibly lose some of the potatoes to rot. ¶9. (U) Describing themselves as a bridge between farmers and consumers, the potato traders said they are currently buying potato crop from farmers at between Rs 115 to Rs 120 (USD 2.90 to 4.00) per 50 kilogram sack. These middlemen provide packaging and transport to the cold storage facility, and generally work with small farmers whose capacity to manage this end of the supply chain is constricted by the amount of manual labor, time, and access to transportation typically available to larger landholders like the farmers we spoke to. Traders, like the farmers who directly store their produce, are also responsible for selling the stock of potatoes they keep at the refrigeration facility before the end of November. -------------- -------------- Different Impressions of What Ails the Supply Chain Network -------------- -------------- ¶10. (U) With a bumper crop season in full effect, farmers continually faulted the potato marketing system and lack of government intervention for the financial straits they are facing. The farmers we spoke to said they believed a demand for their crop at beneficial prices existed in the market, however they lack the ability to network with buyers and have inadequate access to information that might allow them to identify, contact, and sell to traders and wholesalers at greater profits than are currently negotiable in the area. All three of the mid-size farmers (who cultivate between 10 and 13 acres of land each) we met said they would welcome large retail chains like Reliance as well as foreign buyers without qualms, provided they received a advantageous margin of profit for their crops, which they said would be around Rs 170 (about USD 4.00) per 50 kilogram. KOLKATA 00000126 003.2 OF 003 ¶11. (U) The potato traders we spoke with had a different perspective. According to these brokers, they have adequate and established access to a network of buyers with whom business is traditionally transacted. Traders will typically reside in their area of business so they have immediate access to the farmers and then travel to the buyers in order to receive payments and finish deals. Traders favor this current system and are opposed to the entry of corporate buyers and multinationals who can break the marketing cartel in their areas of business. While they complained that the current system inhibits the liquidity of the produce they have purchased, they believe an instrument for spot trading of the crop will address their issues with the current supply chain. -------------- A Possible Solution for Both Sides -------------- ¶12. (U) After our discussions with the farmers and traders, Periwal disclosed that he is in talks with a company to provide his customers with automated up-to-date data on the price, buyers, national and international trends in the potato crop market that would serve as a technology based market place for farmers and traders. Having met with the company three times in the last year, Periwal hopes to have this center up and running at the cold storage facility by April or May, which will be the first one of its type in the immediate area, and provide his trader and farmer clients with a solution to their problems with liquidity and access to data on potential buyers. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶13. (U) More equitable market access for farmers would probably help stabilize potato prices in the future. During this year's glut in the potato harvest, there are rumors that potato trading cartels are deliberately not buying from the farmers and thus artificially decreasing the price for the crop. These cartels are then joined by cold storage owners who refuse to keep the produce on the grounds that there is no space for it in their warehouses. The cold storage warehouse we toured during our trip was quickly filling up and the other cold storage facilities in the area had long lines of farmers with their potato laden trucks and wagons waiting to store the harvest. There have been recent reports of potato farmer suicides, with papers reporting that the farmers are unable to meet their debts and unable to find adequate cold storage space for their crop. If the queues, the glut, and the efforts at price manipulation are any indication, this could be a rough season for West Bengal's potato farming community. The difficulties experienced by the potato farmers also reflect the fundamental problem of India's weak agricultural infrastructure, which results in farmers unable to gain decent returns for their crops even as inflation drives up the prices of basic food items for the Indian consumers. JARDINE