Successful marketing of paddy by local farmers,under the SAFAL project of Vedanta University Project

Sept. 18, 2009 - PRLog -- Puri, 18-9-09: For the first time,12 farmers of Sundara village, Puri have successfully sold 144.75 quintals of paddy at their door step through an institutional process, at a total price of Rs. 1,27,439/-, setting a benchmark in paddy marketing in the area. This marketing has been done by the Jay Jagannath Krushak Samavaya Ltd, Chalisbatia, a farmers’ cooperative formed under the livelihood initiative SAFAL of Vedanta University Project, in collaboration with  MARKFED (Marketing Federation of India) and  RMC (Regulated Market Committee). The farmers could sell paddy at the Government recommended price, ranging from Rs. 845/- to Rs. 864/- per quintal depending upon quality, as against the price ranging from Rs 750/- to Rs 760/-, normally offered by the local traders. The paddy has been procured by the K.C. Rice Mill, Chandanpur.

On the spot determination of price was done by the Secretary, RMC at the village itself and he also helped in the grading of paddy, sorting and price tagging. This marketing of paddy was facilitated by Vedanta University Project under its SAFAL initiative. The main objective of this marketing was to avoid distress sale of paddy, to provide a market to the small and marginal farmers at their door step and to get them some instant income in order to meet the current farming cost of paddy (uprooting, transplantation, weeding of paddy, etc). Moreover, this exercise could make the farmers’ cooperative and their clients acquainted with the Government’s paddy procurement process. The farmers’ co-operative, Jay Jagannath Krushak Samavaya Ltd could familiarize itself with the entire process of institutional marketing like, listing of the farmer’s name and the quantity of paddy to be sold, contacting the buyer, arranging things at the paddy collection point, listing of the sale price, etc.

This marketing process has been very encouraging to all concerned. Purna Chandra Biswal of Sundara village, one of the farmers who has sold his paddy says,” For the first time we have received a good price. We were not aware of the process of selling paddy through Govt. channel and it is definitely helpful to farmers like us”. Similarly, Debraj Pradhan, a farmer of the same village and also a member of Jay Jagannath Samavaya Ltd, says, “This marketing process has given us a lot of confidence. We have learnt how to sell our farm produce at a better price”.

 
It can be recalled that the main objective of the SAFAL initiative of Vedanta University Project is to increase the family income of small and marginal farmers, empower them through institutionalized community structures (farmer’s SHGs, Cooperatives, etc), facilitate their negotiation of key linkages in the value chains and thus, mainstream them. So far, 78 Farmers’ Self Help Groups (FSHGs) have been formed under this initiative comprising 1081 farmers from 20 different villages. 2 cooperatives, namely, Jaya Jagannath Krushak Samavaya Ltd and Baba Beleswar Krushak Samabaya Ltd and 3 farmers’ clubs with the support of NABARD have also been formed.

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The proposed University is going to be set up near Puri, Orissa at a cost of Rs 15, 000 crores. Mr. Anil Agarwal, Chairman< vedanta Resources Plc has pledged an amount of $ 1 billion to initiate the project. The University will be a not-for-profit one.