The champion farmers

Blueberries produced by the NRI farmers are extremely popular all over the world, writes Gurmukh Singh.

When it comes to the success of NRIs in farming, the name of California's peach king Didar Singh Bains springs to mind. At one time, this simple Indian farmer was one of the biggest peach growers in the world.

Of late, many other NRI farmers in North America have made their mark in other crops. One such example is Harbhajan Samra of Los Angeles.

The New York describes this NRI as the "okra king" of America. How he made it? As the Indian American population grew rapidly in America in the 90s, Samra hit upon the idea of growing and supplying okra to Indian stores, shops and restaurants. And his business clicked.

Today, Samra is a multimillionaire farmer in California.

Then there are the Purewal Farms in Canada which are the biggest producers of blueberries in North America. With their annual of turnover of about $50 million this year, Purewal produced about half of the blueberries. Their produce has also been chosen in a survey as the best in North America.

The survey was conducted by the American superstore chain Safeway, which has more than 1,700 outlets in the US and 250 in Canada. "More than 70 per cent of the consumers opted for our blueberries in the survey across America and Canada," says Gurjit Purewal, one of three brothers-cum-partners in this rare joint family venture.

Purewal Farms are spread over hundreds of acres in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, which is the major producer of blueberries in the world. These Farms' Duke and Blue Crop varieties of blueberries are very popular with consumers.

"We produced about 24 million-pound blueberries this year, and we are the major suppliers for Safeway, Saver Food and two other Japanese and American chains," reveals Purewal.

Previously, Safeway had given the Purewal Farms its Supplier of the Year award in 2002.

And theirs is a typical immigrant success story. When these three brothers landed in Canada in the 1970s, they had to earn their livelihood by working on farms and in lumber mills.

"My two elder brothers Malkit and Charan came here in 1970, and I came in 1977. In 1979, our friend blueberry farmer fell out with his partners and asked us to join him. So we became one of the five partners. Within two years we bought them out. We had 55 acres back then, and we had few clues about blueberry farming."

However, the enterprising brothers turned this venture into a mega success. Year after year, their output grew exponentially. And they went on land buying spree, purchasing hundreds of acres over the years.

"As of today, we have over 1,000 acres, and we are buying whosover is willing to sell his land. We have definite targets in our mind," he says.

Till 1985, they sold their produce to others. Then the Purewals set up their own plant. Today this plant worth $25 million covers 150,000 sq ft area, and is expanding. "Because the demand for blueberries increasing all the time.

It is being increasingly consumed fresh on a large scale now, apart its use in making wines, muffins, ice-creams, pies and other products."

Interestingly, Purewals have made name not only in farming but also in sports. Two of the sons of this family - Parminder and Tejinder - are known wrestlers in Canada.

"Yes, my younger son Tejinder (84-kg) has won the gold twice at the provincial level and bronze at the national level in Canada and the Punjab Kumar title in India. The elder Parminder (74-kg) has won the silver at the national level in Canada and been a runner-up in the Bharat Kumar title in India," says Purewal.

Another family boy - Chamkaur - plays professional football and two others - Harman and Gurdwar - are kabbadi champions. In their native Hakimpur in Punjab, the Purewals annually hold what they call the Village Olympics in memory of their father Harbans Purewal.

"The first prize in kabbadi is Rs 1.51 lakh and in wrestling Rs 1.11 lakh. Then there are loads of other awards. We are into the 16th edition of these games this year," says the youngest Purewal.

Interestingly, this family is credited with producing Canada's first Olympic wrestling gold medalist. Not one of their own. But a Nigerian Daniel Igali!

Igali, who came with the Nigerian team for the Commonwealth Games in Canada in 1994, decided to stay back. Because of their love of wrestling, the Purewals "adopted" Igali as their own. The Nigerian stayed and practised with the Purewal boys.

"Igali lived and worked with us. He became so good at kabaddi that people started calling him Toofan Singh. We took him to India in 1999 for our village games."

In 2000 at the Sydney Olympics, Igali won Canada's first-ever gold medal in wrestling. This Daniel 'Toofan Singh' Igali is so famous now that he contested last month's provincial elections for the ruling Liberal party. The Purewals were there in full force to canvass for their protege. Unfortunately, Igali lost.

"No problem. There is always a next time. We believe only in being toppers," says Purewal, adding that 'Toofan Singh' would have better luck next time.