For Indian Farmers, the Grass is Greener in Georgia

Thousands of miles away from home, Indian farmers, mainly from Punjab, have discovered new fertile land for farming... in Georgia, East Europe.

Since last year, thousands have emigrated to start a new life.

One of them is 42-year-old farmer from Punjab, Ramandeep Singh Palhan who moved here last May.

On a foggy morning, Ramandeep shows us his farm.

It’s a 300-hectare piece of land cultivated by wheat. Ramandeep was attracted to Georgia by the cheap price of land.

“One day I was reading the newspaper. I saw an advertisement which said, “Invest in Georgia. You can buy one hectare of land for 800 to 1,000 US dollars,” he recalls.

Back home, it would have cost him 50 times as much.

“Then I called the company called Crown Immigration. They said I could get land in Georgia.”

Crown Immigration’s main office is in Jalandhar, Punjab. With the growing number of Indians arriving in Georgia, it has now opened a new office in Tblisi.

Head of the company Dharamjit Singh Saini says that more than 2000 farmers have arrived in Georgia. “They come here through different companies or directly or some percentage in our hand as well.”

Larisa Maisuradze lives in Samgori Village with her husband and children.

There are several Indian owned farms nearby.

“When I first saw them, I didn’t know what was going on. I was surprised. I wondered, ‘Why are Indians driving tractors here?’” she remembers.

“I treated them with respect and they brought me potatoes, tomatoes and gave them to me for free. I said, ‘No, you are working. I will buy it.’ They said, ‘No. No. As you have welcomed us, we want to please you too.’ And now, when they pass by, they say, ‘Hello sister!’ and I also say, ‘Hi!’ The children are very nice. They’re not bad!”  

But not everyone is happy with the newcomers like Raul Babunashvili who heads the Georgian Farmers’ Union.

“In the past, there was no investment in agriculture. The government did not pay much attention to it and agriculture was not a priority. Farmers who owned land, went completely broke. And because of this, they started selling their land at very cheap prices, for almost nothing.”

He then noticed that foreign investors started to come, especially those who come from India.

Babunashvili says that because of a lack of support from the government, local farmers face unfair competition in their own country. “They’re grabbing this land for the cheapest prices,” he adds.

Georgian agriculture minister, David Kirvalidze admits that in the past the government didn’t do much to help.

“Agriculture has been like a black sheep in the family for a long time here.. for some different reasons,” he says.

But now the government plans to boost domestic agricultural production to help Georgia become more self-sufficient in food.

“The government is really coming back now to support farmers, to support agriculture. And to create a really favourable climate for every single player who wants to be involved in farming, in processing industry, food industry – everything related to this value chain we call agriculture and food processing.” 

Today Georgia imports 80 percent of its packaged food products.

To change the situation, in January this year the government announced a 600 million US dollar fund to boost agricultural development. And foreign investors like Indian farmers are also welcome. 

As the new Indian community in Georgia grows, Indian entrepreneurs are finding new opportunities. The Crown Immigration office, for example, plans to open Georgian and Russian language schools in Punjab to prepare farmers wanting to move.

While in a suburb of Tblisi, a new Indian hotel and restaurant has opened up.

Owner Ranjot Singh is from Haryana. He explains that they want to help fellow Indians to face different obstacles they’re facing here in Georgia.

“The new arrivals will not have to face language barriers. We have rooms here and also a restaurant. We have everything available for Indians,” he smiles.

On the opening day, the restaurant is full of Punjabi customers, including Ramandeep.

He says he misses India and the food... especially corn bread and mustard-spiced curry.