DIRECT SALES
For the first time, farmers in the state have gone corporate and will open their own retail outlets on the Bangalore -Chennai highway
In February 2008, 200 farmers put in seed money of Rs. 10,000 to start a farmer’s company Source: Times of India
Radha Venkatesan | TNN
Dharmapuri: The multinational retail chain, Wallmart, wanted to buy the uniformly big bananas grown in the ‘precision’ farms of Jaragu village in Dharmapuri district of western Tamil Nadu. Representatives of Reliance Fresh came down to the dusty hamlets of Dharmapuri to procure brinjals, beetroots and tomatoes. The Aditya Birla Group too was keen on picking tasty watermelons from Somanahalli for their retail shelves.
But the small and marginal farmers of the district said ‘no’ to the multinational companies. For the first time in Tamil Nadu, these farmers have gone corporate and will open their own retail outlets on the national highways close to Bangalore and Chennai.
Last February, 200 farmers from the district put in seed money of Rs. 10,000 each to start a new farmers’ company — the Dharmapuri Precision Farmers Agro Services Ltd. In just one year, the company has become a dealer of major fertilizer and pesticide brands and a leading retail fertilizer outlet in Dharmapuri. “Our company’s turnover, through sale of fertilisers and pesticides, has crossed Rs. 2.5 crore [Rs 1 crore = Rs 10 millions]. All the 200 farmers, who are the shareholders, have got Rs. 6,000 dividend,” said the company’s secretary C Boopathy.
The services of the company include door-delivery of a family pack of vegetables and fruits every week to residents of Chennai and Bangalore on orders placed online.
Indeed, the initiative to corporatise the farming community came from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.
Just as the yield was dipping and some fertilizer dealers were overcharging the farmers, the university, in a trailblazing venture, initiated 200 farmers in Dharmapuri district into precision farming technology. They were taught to grow seedlings on trays instead of farmlands, water the crop in drips instead of flooding and use water soluble fertilisers so that the entire crop gets uniformly adequate amount of fertilizer.
The result: a micro-green revolution in the backyards of Dharmapuri. A marginal farmer, P M Chinnasamy, produced a record 147 tonnes of brinjal in his one acre and 15 cent land in Somanahalli hamlet. His weekly profit has now touched Rs. 60,000, at least four times that of a middle-level software professional.
A small-time farmer, G Mahendran, has made a whopping Rs. 3.5 lakh [Rs 1 lakh = Rs 100,000] from his 2.5-acre crop of tomatoes and bananas.
But while their crop yield grew, the local fertiliser dealers were taking the farmers for a ride. While the maximum retail price of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) was pegged at Rs. 486 per bag, they were selling it for more than Rs. 650 per bag. Besides, they were forcing the farmers into taking unwanted pesticides, increasing the cultivation cost.
“So, we decided to take up dealership of all the fertiliser and pesticide companies,” says Boopathy. Now, in the face of the fertiliser crunch too these farmers’ outlets sells-DAP at the MRP rate. Also, the company is now collectively selling the produce of all of its shareholding farmers to ensure a fair price for their vegetables and fruits.
“When multinationals sell vegetables and fruits, why not the farmers?” asks E Vadivel, director, Extension Education of the TNAU. With bank loan and a tie-up with another private retailer, the farmers’ company will provide online shopping facility for the consumers.
