Perception of Farmers and other Stakeholders about Merits and Demerits of Contract Farming

Abstract

The study was conducted on potato contract farming under Pepsi Co. in Burdwan district of West Bengal. Two villages
were selected randomly from Memari I block of Burdwan district. Twenty five contract farmers were selected randomly
from each of the two villages. Another 20 major stakeholders which included 10 Pepsi Co. staffs and 10 development
officers were selected randomly for the study. A majority of the respondents in the study perceived that the contract
farming provided assured price to the farmers. The extension specialists of the company provided reliable technical
guidance to the farmers. Except seed, the firm did not help the farmer to get other inputs for potato cultivation but it helped
the farmers to get institutional credit easily. Contract farming removes the role of middleman from the markets. The
contracting company introduces various new technologies for the farmers which make the farmers more skilled and
technologically sound in potato cultivation.