"Unfortunate to have been dragged in the court by PepsiCo": Gujarat potato farmers

Sued by PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd for allegedly using its registered variety of potato, Gujarat farmers on Friday said they have not used the seeds knowing them to be FC5 variety.

In an oral submission, PepsiCo said it will withdraw the case if the farmers sign an undertaking in the court that they would not grow the certain crop variety and if at all they are keen to do the same, they should enter into an agreement to procure seeds from PepsiCo and sell the crop back to the company.

PepsiCo has sued the farmers for using the registered crop variety FL-2027 (FC5 potato variety) for which it claims to have obtained exclusive PVP rights in India in 2016 (valid till 2031) from the Authority and sought damages worth Rs 1.5 cr from each of the four farmers concerned. Five other farmers were sued by PepsiCo in North Gujarat under similar charged in 2017-18.

PepsiCo spokesperson said: "PepsiCo India has proposed to amicably settle with people who were unlawfully using seeds of its registered variety. PepsiCo has also proposed that they may become part of its collaborative potato farming program. This program gives them access to higher yields, enhanced quality, training in best-in-class practices and better prices. In case, they do not wish to join this program, they can simply sign an agreement and grow other available varieties of potatoes. It is significant to note that the company’s collaborative potato farming program is best in class and is built on strong backward and forward linkages that improve livelihoods by using protected seeds."

Appearing before the Commercial Court wherein four from Sabarkantha district have been accused by PepsiCo of using its registered variety of potato seed, the farmers sought time till June 12 to respond.

Addressing the media later, one of the farmers, Bipin Patel, said: “We had earlier refused offer by PepsiCo to enter into an agreement mandating us to buy seeds and sell potatoes to it. That however, was not remunerative and hence, we rejected the offer. As for the current matter, we have not used the seeds knowing them to be FC5 variety.”

Advocate Anand Yagnik appeared on behalf of the farmers. He told the media that the litigation is a case of corporate arrogance. “A MNC enters into our farmlands, procures crop without our knowledge and frames us. It is infringing upon the right to privacy and dictating terms about what we should eat. This is unacceptable,” he said.

Yagnik claimed that PepsiCo officials entered the farms with advocates in plain clothes and collected crop samples without the knowledge of the farmers. “The entire process of evidence collection was flawed,” he said.

Source:-https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/food-entertainment/grocery/unfortunate-to-have-been-dragged-in-the-court-by-pepsico-gujarat-potato-farmers/69059638