Yes. I know there was a lot of talk about Walmart coming to India, and then the Government blocked them. Farmers and small business owners compained and made a huge cry about their future being destroyed etc. But do you know what happened after that? We also heard something about Walmart tying up with Bharti (yes, the Airtel guy). But then what?
I just read an article on NDTV.com about how Walmart is already in, and a lot of us do not even know about this. They are laying the foundations, so to speak. Walmart has made an entry into the wholesale vegetable and food products industry. What does this mean? They establish contacts with a large number of farmers, help them get the best crop, procure them, and then sell them as a whole sale dealer to smaller retailers.
By helping the farmers, with the latest innovations, doing research with them, to achieve high yields with minimal cost etc, Walmart has established a good rapport with these farmers. One other thing that they do, which has made Walmart have a huge fan following, is the fact, that Walmart comes, and collects the produce from the farmers, instead of the farmer having to lug it there. Payments are made in time. What have we here? Walmart is a hero in these parts.
Here in Haider Nagar, in India’s bread basket state of Punjab, farmers who supply vegetables to Wal-Mart say they like working with the company. It typically pays them 5 percent to 7 percent more than they earn from local wholesale markets, they said. And they don’t have to spend money transporting produce because Wal-Mart picks it up from their fields.
Abdul Majid, who sells cucumbers to Wal-Mart, says his yields have risen about 25 percent since he started following farming advice about when to apply fertilizers and which kinds – more zinc, less potash – from the company and its partner, Bayer CropScience.
Walmart is trying to push other goods as well through its whole sale market, such as clothes etc, but it has recognized that the largest commodity that is traded and needed in India, is food.
Ofcourse, not everyone likes the idea of Walmart in India. Activists are protesting that, they will wipe out the small traders. But what can Walmart do new, that Big Bazaar has not done already. I am of the firm belief that, Capitalism does not kill anyone. Capitalism makes people reinvent what they are, and adapt to what they are smart at. So if someone was a smart farmer, he would adapt to selling to walmart. If he was not a smart farmer, he would reinvent himself, he would either move to the city and become a driver or something else, where he would showcase his smartness. That is life. But is moving everyone to the city a good thing? Well, that is another topic for another day….
Read the full article here.
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