There are ongoing discourses on contract farming across the world. Contract farming is an issue of serious concern in India today, among farmers as well as policymakers. Such farming among small and marginal farmers, who are facing several problems in agriculture, requires special attention. Considering the large presence of small and marginal farmers and PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay model of potato contract farming in the state of West Bengal, which is India’s second largest producer of potatoes, a study is imperative from the perspective of small and marginal farmers and their participation in potato contract farming. The present paper discusses the nature and extent of participation of small and marginal farmers in potato contract farming in the state. Although participation is qualitative and interpretative in nature, the study considers the attributes which are mainly quantitative or measurable. In order to understand the nature and extent of the participation of small and marginal farmers in contract farming, the study also focuses on the participation of other stakeholders such as vendors and non-marginal and small farmers, and a comparison of socioeconomic conditions between the contract and non-contract farmers is undertaken.

世界各地都有关于合同农业的讨论。合同农业是当今印度农民和政策制定者严重关注的一个问题。在面临若干农业问题的小农和边缘农民中进行这种耕作需要特别关注。考虑到印度第二大马铃薯生产国西孟加拉邦存在大量小规模和边缘农民以及百事可乐的 Frito-Lay 马铃薯代销模式，从小规模和边缘农民及其参与的角度进行研究势在必行在马铃薯合同农业方面。本文讨论了小农和边缘农民在该州参与马铃薯订单农业的性质和程度。尽管参与本质上是定性的和解释性的，该研究考虑主要是定量或可测量的属性。为了了解小农和边缘农户参与合同农业的性质和程度，本研究还关注供应商、非边缘和小农等其他利益相关者的参与，以及合同农户的社会经济条件比较。和非合同农民进行。