On Monday morning, National Convenor of Congress Social Media department, Saral Patel decided to take a jibe at Adani Group’s agri-business. Patel was trying to suggest that the presence of large business groups in agri-businesses is hurting farmers and small businesses, and Narendra Modi is to blame for that. However, after getting schooled by netizens, Patel quietly deleted the tweet as he realized that this propaganda is not working.
Saral Patel tweeted an image of apples packaged under Adani’s ‘Farm-Pik’ venture with the caption, “The attack of Modiji’s friends on farmers and small businessmen.”
Soon after Patel tweeted the photo, he received a lot of flack with people pointing out that the existence of Adani’s agri-business dates as far back as 2004, almost a decade before Narendra Modi came to power. Netizens educated Patel that Adani Agri Fresh Ltd (AAFL) procures apples from farmers of Himachal Pradesh and markets the produce under its brand name ‘Farm Pik’. The Adani group has also set up cold storage units in Mehandli, Rewali and Sainj areas in the Shimla district, benefitting the local farmers.
The History of Adani’s ‘Farm Pik’
It was in 2004 when the Adani Group first ventured into agri-business with Adani Agri Fresh Limited. Under its brand name Farm Pik, the company has been procuring apples from as many as 15,000 farmers in Himachal Pradesh. Not restricted to apples, Farm Pik also sells freshly procured Pears, Kiwis, Oranges, Grapes, and many other fruits. Apart from importing apples from Canada, USA, Europe and other countries, Farm Pik’s India market is concentrated within the Shimla and Kinnaur districts of Himachal Pradesh.
The company procures apples from small and marginalized farmers spread over 700 villages in the state. In 2020, it made news after the farmers claimed private partners like the Adani Group had helped to elevate their income by eliminating the margins of the middlemen. An apple farmer who sold his produce to Farm Pik in an interview with the ANI said, “Earlier we had to go to Delhi. Now we sell apples directly to the procurement center here. I gave them 12,000 crates of apples last year and around 10,000 crates this year.” Farmers have earlier said that with the entry of private players in the business, there is the ease of procurement while production capacity has also increased.
I gave them 12,000 crates of apples last yr & around 10,000 crates this yr. Payment is made directly into our bank account. Earlier, we used to spend a lot on paying grading officials, labourers, on commission etc. Now we save a lot & earn good money: Layak Ram, an apple grower https://t.co/DHjbumg0Zc pic.twitter.com/7UTr1ckdJI
— ANI (@ANI) November 29, 2020
However, this is not the first time that Congress has tried to mislead people about the agri-business of the Adani Group. Farm Pik is often at the receiving end of such propaganda where opposition insinuates that PM Modi is promoting these businesses at the expense of the farmers.
However, the truth is that the success of Adani’s Farm Pik dates back to the time when the UPA government was in power in the center. Such companies benefit the farmers massively as they get good prices locally and also a guaranteed buyer every year. Probably, Patel realized this too later – as he ate a humble pie while deleting his tweet.
