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Farmers dump paddy for more profitable vegetables by Nidhi Nath Srinivas

Sivadasan's five-acre farm used to be a solitary patch in Kerala's Palakkad district, with bitter gourd, cucumber, cow peas and lady's finger growing amid a landscape dotted with paddy fields and plantations of rubber and spices. 

Just five years later, more than 1.45 lakh farmers in the southern state have joined Sivadasan and started growing vegetables, reflecting a palpable shift sweeping across the Indian countryside. 

"Vegetables are always more profitable than paddy," says Sivadasan, echoing farmers across the country who are rapidly shifting from the safer but less profitable option of foodgrain to vegetables. The central agriculture ministry estimates that fruits and vegetable crops are four to eight times more profitable than other crops. 

Improved irrigation, availability of disease-resistant hybrid seeds and new marketing channels are making it easier for farmers to shift to vegetables, which have been traditionally considered a riskier proposition because of shorter shelf life. 

Rising incomes have led to a spurt in demand for fresh vegetables and the farmers have responded by increasing area under production more than 40% over the past decade, contributing to output that has more than doubled during this period. As a result, the total production of vegetables and fruits, increasing at 6% annually, now exceeds that of wheat, rice and corn. 

"Vegetables are becoming the top choice of Indian farmers, especially those who live closer to metros and big towns," says HP Singh, deputy director general (horticulture) Indian Council of Agricultural Research, apex government-run body for farm research. 

Vegetables and fruits already make up a third of the output in Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar and the Northeast. Eastern India has become the largest supplier of green vegetables, contributing 45% of the total output, says DP Singh, deputy director at government-run National Horticulture Board. 

With such rapid growth, new competitors are fast emerging to challenge the traditional centres such as Maharashtra for onions and Uttar Pradesh for potatoes. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar are all challenging Maharashtra, for instance. So much so that, as a big exporter in Maharashtra lamented, this year all the export of onions to Bangladesh was from Bihar, which enjoys a critical locational advantage. 

Farmers in Himachal Pradesh have started growing exotic vegetables that cater to more sophisticated palates. "A sizeable area in the state has started cultivation of vegetables that are of European and Oriental origin," says Manish K Sharma, associate professor of vegetable sciences at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni. 

Jammu has likewise emerged as a prominent producer of tomatoes during the summer months. Area under vegetable crops has almost doubled in Jammu region during last five years, thanks to the National Horticulture Mission, says Tajinder Singh, president, J & K Kisan Council. 

State-run institutions have contributed in a major way in a few other states as well. In Kerala, for instance, the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam, with farmers as majority shareholders, subsidises seeds and takes the produce to its own auction centres where wholesalers buy directly. "Every year we see an addition of 10,000 farmers. 

We have farmers who cultivate on a few cents of land to some who cultivate in 5 acres,'' says N Vijayan, CEO of the Council. The organisation made a profit of Rs 157 crore last year and expects it to rise to Rs 180 crore this year. Kerala's state horticulture mission has also started promoting roof-top vegetable farming by 15,000 households in capital Thiruvananthapuram. 

Last month, Punjab government announced a 50% subsidy on vegetable farming to boost production in the state. The centre's Rs 300-crore Vegetable Initiative proposes to encourage vegetable cultivation in the peri-urban areas around 29 state capitals and other cities with population of more than one million. 

Vegetables are especially attractive to those with small farmland, like Swapan Mondol, who cultivates potatoes and tomatoes on two hectares in West Bengal's Hooghly district. Unlike row crops, vegetables don't need a minimum sized plot for optimum yields and profits. The most popular choices are potatoes, tomatoes, brinjal, lady's finger, cauliflower, peas and cabbage. 

Increase in area under irrigation has allowed even tribal farmers to grow vegetables, says Sriram Gadhave, president, All India Vegetable Growers' Association. MG Shember, managing director of Nagpur-based Ankur Seeds, points out that availability of hybrid seeds allow farmers to shorten the crop cycle, grow a vegetable even in its off-season, get higher tonnage from the same field and better utilise crop inputs. 

Some seeds even include labour-saving technology such as tomatoes that ripen at the same time to reduce the number of pickings. 

(With inputs from Madhvi Sally, Sutanuka Ghosal, Jayashree Bhosale, PK Krishna Kumar)