On a suit filed by PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd, the Ahmedabad city civil court earlier this month had barred four farmers of Sabarkantha district — Bipin Patel, Chhabil Patel, Vinod Patel and Haribhai Patel — from growing and selling potatoes till April 26.
Ahmedabad: Leading rights groups and individuals working for farmers’ rights in the country have sought Central government’s intervention to protect at least nine farmers in Gujarat against whom PepsiCo India, the Indian subsidiary of the US food and beverage giant, has slapped lawsuits for allegedly growing and selling potato variety exclusively registered with the company for manufacturing chips of the Lay’s brand.
In a letter to the chairperson and registrar of Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Authority, which is under the central government’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare, the 192 signatories have sought the court cases against the farmers be withdrawn. They have also asked the government to issue a notification barring any private firm to trespass into a farmer’s field without duly informing the local district agriculture office and farmer’s prior informed consent.
On a suit filed by PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd, the Ahmedabad city civil court earlier this month had barred four farmers of Sabarkantha district — Bipin Patel, Chhabil Patel, Vinod Patel and Haribhai Patel — from growing and selling potatoes till April 26. PepsiCo had complained to the court that the farmers were “illegally” growing and selling a potato variety —- FL-2027 — exclusively registered with the company. On the company’s plea, the court had appointed an advocate as the court commissioner to conduct an inquiry into the dispute and file a report.
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