Georgia farms face Indian ‘invasion’
Thousands of Punjabi farmers have bought land in distant Georgia lured
by cheap prices, angering some locals.
Al Jazeera
21 Feb 2013
Felix Gaedtke and Gayatri Parameswaran
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.
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”.
“Of course, I miss my family and my friends but most of all makki 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.
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.”