Ahmedabad, April 27
Terming as “brazenly wrong” PepsiCo’s legal action against Gujarat farmers for growing a variety of potatoes “registered” by the company, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel Saturday said corporate interests cannot dictate what farmers must or must not cultivate.
He also said that the state government should not keep its eyes “shut” to the development.
Nine farmers from Sabarkantha and Aravalli districts of Gujarat were sued by food and beverages giant PepsiCo for allegedly growing a variety of potatoes for which it has claimed Plant Variety Protection (PVP) rights.
“Pepsi’s decision to take Gujarat’s potato grower farmers to court is ill-advised & brazenly wrong. It is in violation of the farmers right under PPVFR Act. The state govt shouldn’t keep its eyes shut. Corporate interest cannot dictate what our farmers must or mustn’t cultivate,” Patel said on Twitter.
The Congress leader was referring to the Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act, 2001.
