Vegetables are emerging as wealth multipliers for smallholder farmers

G C Shivakumar, General Manager of East-West Seed India

G C Shivakumar, the General Manager of East-West Seed India, in an exclusive tete-a-tete, says that vegetables can help smallholder farmers become economically resilient as high-value crops grown on smaller farms can yield better returns, especially in these times of the pandemic.

Would you please tell us about East-West Seed India?

East-West Seed India is a Dutch-based tropical vegetable seeds company with 37 years of experience in breeding, producing, and delivering high-quality vegetable seeds. Founded by Dr. Simon Groot, winner of the World Food Prize 2019, East-West Seeds' focus is developing improved vegetable varieties to help smallholder farmers increase their production and incomes. East-West Seed ranked in the top 30 of FORTUNE's 2020 "Change the World" list of global companies that are "doing well by doing good." We are #1 on the 2019 Global Access to Seed Index, which recognizes the commitment and performance in providing the World's smallholder farmers access to quality seeds.

East-West Seed is among the top ten seed companies in the World and top six in India. Our goal is to be among the top three vegetable seed companies in the country by 2022, driven by market-leading growth. We currently offer 150 varieties across 32 crops for farmers and continue to expand in India with R&D centers, warehouses, people, and new products.

Another unique initiative is our Knowledge Transfer which gives farmers practical skills and introduces them to new technologies that help in improving their profitability. We have helped more than 50,000 smallholder vegetable farmers in India by providing and training better farming practices in vegetable farming.

You said vegetable farming is a more sustainable option for smallholder farmers in India. Please elaborate?

Thanks to the pandemic, consumers now increasingly see a correlation between what they eat, how they feel, and their health needs. Crop concepts have therefore transformed from subsistence to self-sufficiency and are now taking a stride towards superfood approaches. Products with specific health components such as bitter gourd, broccoli, and several leafy assortments have become more popular and called "superfoods."
Having a market-oriented vegetable farming approach can help create better income for smallholder farmers and help build resilience to external risks. The sheer diversity of vegetable crops, short growing cycles, and efficient use of irrigation can reduce farmers' vulnerability to climate change.

High-value crops can be grown on smaller farms that yield better returns. For example, 1,000 square meters of land planted to bitter gourd will give a farmer roughly the same income as against that much area (close to 1 acre) planted to rice. With the help of multiple cropping & inter-cropping, the smallholder farmer can opt for a variety of crops with a bit of planning.

What are the strategies adopted by East-West Seed to tackle the Covid impact?

The pandemic has shown the enormous value of digital tools in agriculture. It is now a fact that systematic application of digital tools can support sustainable production & timely supply, involving millions of smallholder farmers.
Indian agricultural ecosystem has changed a lot since the arrival of agritech startups to the center stage, developing solutions that focus on maximizing productivity, increasing supply chain efficiency, and improving market linkages.

Our digital outreach eConnect facilitated our commercial teams to connect with over 400,000 farmers across India in the past year. The training through the digital platform offered farmers crop advisory and helped them make the right decisions.

East-West Seed India tied up with four rural-based major e-commerce firms, Agrostar, Bighaat, Dehaat, and Gramophone, to deliver vegetable seeds pan India. Under the partnership, farmers all over India can order our seeds through the above digital agri-tech platforms and get last-mile delivery to their doorstep while following hygiene and social distancing norms.

Is East-West Seed India planning to launch new seed categories in India?

In these challenging times of the pandemic, there is an increasing trend towards urban farming. East-West Seed India has launched GoGrow kitchen garden vegetable seed packs, which are now available online through BigHaat. GoGrow offers a range of 14 crops assorted, hand-picked, easy-to-grow products such as coriander, spinach, tomato, hot pepper, brinjal, okra, beans, among others. This year, we are focussing on Icebox Watermelon with three personal segment hybrid launches - Sugar Dew, Mukasa, and Red Velvet to suit local preferences across India.