Good article on Sikh farmers in Georgia

[proactive]

Ramandeep Singh Palhan bought 30 hectares of Georgian farmland on the cheap [Felix Gaedtke/Al Jazeera]

Samgori, Georgia - Larisa Maisuradze was astonished to see the sudden proliferation of foreigners driving farm machinery near her sleepy village, about 25 kilometres south of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

Her home is sandwiched between the lone street that runs through the small village of Samgori on one side, and a vast tract of underutilised farmland on the other.

"I didn't know what was going on, I was so surprised," Maisuradze recounted on a recent afternoon. "There were all these Indian farmers driving tractors here."

Maisuradze said the unusual scene from that day months ago are etched in her memory, as she never imagined she'd have so many neighbours from a land so far away.

The Indians Maisuradze witnessed that day were the first wave of many who have come to Georgia to farm land in the Caucasus region in recent months.

"I give them water and in return they always bring me some vegetables from the farm ... They are nice people, very hardworking and calm."

- Larisa Maisuradze, Georgian citizen

The government is seeking to bolster domestic agricultural production to help Georgia become more food self-sufficient. Most Georgians farm small plots of land for sustenance only, not enough for commercial production.

Agricultural production has plummeted from 12.8 percent of the country's GDP in 2006 to just 8.3 percent at present.

Georgia has stepped up the immigration of people with agricultural know-how and farmland sales to foreigners, as the country's abundant and agriculturally potent conditions have not been properly utilised by local farmers.

Many Georgians, however, view the influx of foreign farmers as an "invasion". Estimates suggest thousands of Indian farmers - mostly from the northern state of Punjab - have immigrated since 2012.

Maisuradze admits it was difficult to develop relationships with the new arrivals, but it didn't take her long to realise they were "nice people".

"There's no drinking water in the fields, so they always come here to drink water. I give them water and in return they always bring me some vegetables from the farm - tomatoes or potatoes or something else. They are nice people, very hardworking and calm," said Maisuradze.

Harvesting opportunity

Ramandeep Singh Palhan, a Sikh farmer from Punjab, owns nearly 30 hectares (74 acres) of farmland that stretches beyond Maisuradze's home.

One of the reasons Palhan chose Georgia is because land here is so inexpensive.

"I can buy a hectare of land for US$1,000-$1,500. I can't imagine finding something that cheap in Punjab," the bearded farmer said. "You can't compare the prices. I sold one hectare of my land in Punjab and with that money I could buy 200 hectares [495 acres] of land in Georgia."

Palhan grows wheat, potatoes, garlic, onion and a variety of other crops. The 42-year-old recently walked through a fresh morning mist that hung over his fields, and bent down to grab a handful of dirt.

"Feel the texture of the soil, it's great. It's very suitable for the crops we'd like to grow. It's not very different from the soil we have back home," he said.

Stroking his turban he added jokingly: "I am a true Punjabi at heart. We have this inherent hunger for buying more and more land. There's not one Punjabi who is satisfied with the land he owns."

Though he is trying to adapt to Georgian life, Palhan faces some hurdles. The culture and language are "different", and the food is "not spicy".

Agriculture Minister David Kirvalidze [Felix Gaedtke/Al Jazeera]

"Of course, I miss my family and my friends but most of allmakki di roti aur sarso da saag [corn bread and mustard spiced curry]," he said longingly.

Palhan found out about agricultural investment opportunities in Georgia through a newspaper advertisement by an immigration agency.

Posters welcoming immigrants to Georgia are stuck on the walls of Crown Immigration Consultancy Services office on the top floor of a shopping mall in a Tbilisi suburb.

The agency has facilitated the migration of about 2,000 farmers since last year, according to Dharamjit Singh Saini, executive director of the firm, who also hails from Punjab.

Punjabi farmers find Georgia attractive because of the lack of red tape, said Saini. "Everything is transparent … and there's no corruption here - unlike India. If all goes well, there will be more [indians] to come."

The agency is also planning to open a Georgian-Russian-language school in Jalandhar in Punjab state to prepare farmers before they head to their new home.

Unhappy Georgians

Not everyone is content with recent developments. Georgian farmers with small and medium-sized farms complain while the government facilitates foreign investment in agriculture, it doesn't encourage local farmers.

Raul Babunashvili is the founder of the Georgian Farmers' Union. On a weekday the union's office in Tbilisi is buzzing with activity. Sacks of seed are brought in to the storage hall, and farming equipment is briskly bought and sold.

Babunashvili, 71, sits in a quiet office far from all the distraction. "In the past, the government neglected agriculture. It wasn't a priority for them. That made the farmers so broke that they have no choice but to sell their lands at a pittance to foreigners - and here let me specifically mention the Indian farmers."

The union founder admitted the inadequacies of local agriculturalists, but said the government should focus on Georgians instead of foreigners to boost food production.

"Georgian farmers lack the know-how and skills. We don't have the resources to invest in building infrastructure. That's why Georgian farmers are lagging behind, while Indians come and literally grab their land for the cheapest prices."

Babunashvili said he doesn't have any statistics on how much land Indian farmers own in Georgia, but he wants immediate government action to halt foreigners from buying up prime agricultural areas.

"We must stop this invasion of land-buyers from India. I call it invasion because they are coming in massive numbers," said Babunashvili.

Paying heed to 'black sheep'

In an interview, Agriculture Minister David Kirvalidze was asked whether the government was ignoring the needs of Georgian farmers.

Kirvalidze said they were not made a priority by past governments, but added his administration was paying attention to the "black sheep in the family" - Georgia's agriculture sector - after it came to power in October 2012.

"We are trying to bring the rural Georgian population back to life, back to business. We are making huge investments, you will see the results in the coming months. I ask you to return after seven-eight months," Kirvalidze said.

The government under Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has increased funding for agriculture by more than 60 percent from the previous budget, he noted. And a fund worth about US$600m was also created in January to provide credit for small farmers.

"We are trying to bring the rural Georgian population back to life, back to business. We are making huge investments, you will see the results in the coming months."

- David Kirvalidze, agriculture minister

Georgia imports 80 percent of its packaged food products, a problem that negatively affects the economy. "It's nonsense, real nonsense," Kirvalidze said. "Georgian farmers have very good natural resources: soil, water and climate."

Although Kirvalidze stressed improving conditions for Georgian farmers, he doesn't shun foreigners. "Any kind of investment, foreign, local or domestic - we welcome all. Every single investor who is looking to build up long-term relationships with us is welcome," he said.

Ranjot Singh - who owns 150 hectares of farmland land in Georgia - saw yet another business opportunity with the wave of Punjabi immigrants.

"We are running an inexpensive hotel and canteen for the new arrivals. When they arrive, they can come here and feel at home. They can speak Punjabi and eat Punjabi food and get to know other Punjabis in Tbilisi," Singh said.

But for Singh, Georgia doesn't feel like home. "Georgians are very nice people. But we are very different from them. The culture is different, even the religion is different. But there's a business opportunity here."

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/02/201322081918452141.html

[HSD2]

I am a true Punjabi at heart. We have this inherent hunger for buying more and more land. There's not one Punjabi who is satisfied with the land he owns.

And this is why agriculture is turning into a train wreck in Punjab.

[S1ngh]

And this is why agriculture is turning into a train wreck in Punjab.

How is that?

[proactive]

The only opportunity that I can see here will for the first few farmers who go there and buy up land really cheap and make it productive and then sell out at a big profit. The others who will follow them will buy the land at a higher price and will be less able to sell when the land reaches it's full productive capacity. When this happens the ones left holding onto the land will either have to make their lives there or come back and lose whatever paper profit they sat on. It's a bit like a pyramid scheme, the first few rungs make all the money and the bottom rungs make some until the flow of new members dries up and then the bottom rungs lose all their money.

[S1ngh]

Yup, that's the way it is.. Early investors will reap the benefits than later entrants (as we know there will be many), however those who went first are also the one who are facing lots of difficulties than later entry farmers.

Exactly like African Americans fought hard for civil rights back in 50's/60's thus decades later making it easy for other color ppl to enjoy freedom in America (like us).

[HSD2]

How is that?

Large land owners owning more land than they can farm and legging it to the West to live the high life whilst small farmers/rural workers live a third world existence and send their sons/daughters abroad to work as menial labour/prostitutes. Desperation to get the most of the land leading to overuse of fertilizer which leads to eutrophication, poisonous drinking water, lower water levels etc, but they still dont understand any of that. Overuse of fertiliser = good in their minds, but in reality it just means bumper profits for the companies making the fertilizer. Most people think its the Indian government who are behind the poisoning lol. Add to that NRIs investing in land and then moaning that the prices are so high and East Punjabis are so poor... because they cant afford land to farm as the NRIs drive the price up. Then NRIs moan there is nothing else to invest in in East Punjab so they buy more land they will never farm. Youngsters there see this and become obsessed with getting out of India no matter what, and we all know the problems that leads to. Then we in the west just cry 'oh its a secret war against us'. Yeah maybe it is, but we arent exactly helping ourselves here.

[proactive]

If anything the NRIs especially from the UK are selling off land rather than buying it. I know of four families who have sold off all of their and rather than keeping the money in India, have bought it to the UK. The NRI problem if there is one is mainly from those who have recently migrated via family reunions to the USA and Canada. They have given out their lands on maamla and they demand top rates even though it could be uneconomic for the farmers taking the land on maamla. Recently I have seen more and more small farmers just farm their own land and not take any extra land on maamla which in essence just means farming land which would otherwise be left fallow and lining the pockets of the NRI owners whilst breaking their own backs for very little benefit. If this happens on a larger scale then land prices in the villages will start to go down and more and more land will be left fallow. Maamla in Ludhiana district is over 35,000 rupees per acre which if you count the cost of the inputs such as fertiliser, labour etc is clearly uneconomic. The small farmer are being shafted from all sides. The local labour doesn't want to work on the fields as they can work in the towns or their sons and daughters are getting into high paid govt jobs. The Bhaiyas demand high wages plus food and accommodation. The farmer have to even buy the sharab and doday as well. The local labour during the old days would work for a share of the produce but not now, yet even though they do not work for the farmers their women will still steal crops during the night from the fields. As I said the small farmer is shafted from all sides in Punjab.

[acsap]

Nobody from the US or UK can buy land in Punjab just for farming (unless they like to lose money). In fact, you can sell land in Punjab and buy much more in the US and UK. I do agree with other things you are saying though.

[S1ngh]

farming in punjab is dying and i am glad that we sold our land few years ago. Is Maamla means Teeka? No sane person would ever enter the farming sector in punjab as most of the time input cost exceeds the output and plus all such govt' subsidies are joke. If one counts the mehnat (physical labor) then farming is not worth it at all. Not only that, green revolution of 70's and 80's/90's did extensive damage to environment, water tables and health of punjabis.

It is true that our people are too emotionally attached with farmlands of punjab but they need to find other job sector. Or maybe punjabi farmers should get creative and opt for "Bagh/Fruits", organic farming for export (but then again delhi would never allow that).

The life of a typical active punjabi farmer of few acres is "Hell". They can't sell with their own price, they can't sell it to other than govt and thug/mafia system of baniya people - arthiya system. It is more like slave rather than independent businessman.

[Singh559]

farming in punjab is dying and i am glad that we sold our land few years ago. Is Maamla means Teeka? No sane person would ever enter the farming sector in punjab as most of the time input cost exceeds the output and plus all such govt' subsidies are joke. If one counts the mehnat (physical labor) then farming is not worth it at all. Not only that, green revolution of 70's and 80's/90's did extensive damage to environment, water tables and health of punjabis.

It is true that our people are too emotionally attached with farmlands of punjab but they need to find other job sector. Or maybe punjabi farmers should get creative and opt for "Bagh/Fruits", organic farming for export (but then again delhi would never allow that).

The life of a typical active punjabi farmer of few acres is "Hell". They can't sell with their own price, they can't sell it to other than govt and thug/mafia system of baniya people - arthiya system. It is more like slave rather than independent businessman.

Someone in our pind did a bagh of kinoos. He had the best kinoos in all of India, but didn't win the official prize because his spacing between the trees wasn't according to the guidelines. He took us there with prem to show us and I snapped a few shots - the thing was filled with kinoos!

They make good money according to Indian standard, but it takes five years of hard work before you can see any return.

Punjab is dying in many respects, mainly unethical agricultural practices that is plaguing Punjab and the once fertile land. I think it would be smart for people to transfer jameenan to western farms here in the US, Canada or UK, but I guess it's up to the siyane to decide what's best as they do know what's best.

Organic farming is the way of the future.

My goal when I'm established w/ my career/profession is to get some farm land, a modest house, and do some organic farming and grow most of my own food instead of the GMOs that the 1% invest in (they cause sterility in rats and cancer - you can imagine what they will do to humans over the generations).

The only reason to keep land in Punjab I see is to keep your "roots" alive and the attachment of having it over the generations, but in this case I think it can be destructive. I've heard about people stealing jameenan and land mafias taking them over if the NRIs aren't too sharp.

It's an unstable region and a bad investment from a business and realistic standpoint in my opinion.