PepsiCo, Inc. is suing four Indian farmers over patent infringement for its special type of potatoes. The beverage and snack manufacturing giant claimed that the farmers cultivated seeds called FL2027 that do not belong to them. PepsiCo stated that these type of seeds are patented and they are the main ingredient in the popular Lay's potato chips products.
According to Reuters, the farmers grow the patented potatoes in the western state of Gujarat that is known to be the region's leading producer of the said crop. While PepsiCo is convinced that there was an infringement case, the sued farmers think that the issue is uncalled for.
"We have been growing potatoes for a long time and we didn't face this problem ever, as we've mostly been using the seeds saved from one harvest to plant the next year's crop," Bipin Patel, one of the four farmers sued, said.
PepsiCo is said to be demanding US$142,000 or Rs10 million from each of the farmers as compensation for the illegal growing of the special potatoes. "In this instance, we took judicial recourse against people who were illegally dealing in our registered variety," the representative of PepsiCo India told Reuters.
The price is obviously too steep for the small-time farmers who were sued and they decided to fight back. They believe that their rights are being violated by the company so they asked the help of the agriculture and farmer welfare ministry. The farmers asked the ministry have PepsiCo drop the cases against them and to put out a public statement that upholds the farmers' rights under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act.
"We believe that the intimidation and legal harassment of farmers are happening because farmers are not fully aware of their rights," the Farmers' associations wrote in a letter addressed to the Indian government.
Meanwhile, Pepsi made an offer to settle the lawsuit by giving the farmers the option to either join them in their program or grow other types of potatoes. The farmers rejected the offer and they stated they will fight and not be bullied by the American manufacturing giant.
"Accepting the offer would mean that we have made a mistake, Vindo Kumar Ishwar Bhai, one of the four farmers, said. "We hope that we get justice and we will not bow to the pressure of the multinational company,"
Finally, the All India Farmers' Forum (AIFF) has demanded PepsiCo to issue an apology to poor farmers of India. Via press release, the group vowed to mobilize all workers in the country if Pepsi will refuse to act in accordance with the requests.
