Thane farmers reverse their fortunes by exporting ladies finger to the UK, where they receive double the price of the vegetable
Thane farmers reverse their fortunes by exporting ladies finger to the UK, where they receive double the price of the vegetable
In times of recession and farmer suicides, here is the story of one man who reversed the fortunes of his village with determination and the humble ladyfinger.
However in 2005, noticing that farm hands were many and work was scarce after the monsoon, Dongre hit upon the idea of growing okra or ladyfinger, a crop that required little irrigation and which would thrive well even in drought situations. He began planting in November and by March the following year; he had a bumper crop and a reason to finally smile.
No more debts
Four years later, Dongre has been joined by 25 other farmers in the village, has paid off his debts, owns a cell phone and sells his produce to buyers in the United Kingdom as well as locals at the APMC market in Vashi. The arrangement leaves him with two months, April and May, to prepare the soil for the rice crop in the monsoon and income from their farming activities is no longer restricted to only a single time in the year.
The farmer has also been instrumental in bringing irrigation facilities to the village. "The crop needed water every 15 days and it was a task to fetch water from the nearby river." To solve the predicament, Dongre installed a water pump near the Bhatsa damn and directed the water pipe to his farmhouse in the village of Vaphe. The pipe now distributes water to all the farmers who pay Dongre Rs 1,000 every five months for the service.
This source of income isn't the only offshoot from cultivating okra. Prakash Gore, who transports the crop to the APMC market, receives a commission plus tempo charges from wholesalers at the market for his produce.
'Kings of our land'
The biggest windfall however has been the tie up with exporters, who are now shipping their produce to the United Kingdom where one kilo fetches them Rs 16, as compared to the Rs 8 per kilo they receive for sale to locals in Mumbai and Thane. "Four years ago, we didn't know where our next meal was coming from. Today we are the kings of our land and our time," said Dongre.
500 boxes of okra
M/s M K Enterprises, Navi Mumbai are the sole representatives for Dhillon Farm Veg (UK) Limited in India, an exporter of farm produce who chanced upon Dongre and his fellow residents over a year ago.
The company manager, Kashmir Singh told Sunday MiD DAY that initially they procured okra from Jalgaon in Maharashtra. However, due to the poor monsoons last year, the farmers there had a bad harvest, forcing them to look for produce elsewhere. They then began their association with farmers in Shahapur.
According to Singh, special care is taken to ensure that the okra procured from the farmers are packed in specially designed five kg packs and on an average around 500 boxes of okra are exported daily. Apart from okra, even bottlegourd (dudhi) grown in Shahapur, Delhi and Punjab are exported.
"Since these are perishable items, we have to ensure they get exported soon, without compromising the quality or else the entire shipment can get rejected and we have to bear the loss," said Singh.
He explained that the farmers are paid Rs 16 per kilogram of okra and the middlemen get a commission of Re 1. After deducting all other overhead expenditures, including transportation cost and air freight charges, okra costs Rs 80 per kilogram when it reaches the UK market.
The exporters do get government subsidies for getting foreign exchange into the country, but since they are into exporting of perishable commodities, utmost care has to be taken to maintain the quality of the produce. Singh clarified that since the farmers deal in ready cash transactions, they also find cultivating okra lucrative.
Milk supply stopped
The Dairy Industry Export Organisation (an all-India association of dairy products manufacturers and exporters) will stop supplying milk with effect from Wednesday, February 25, due to lack of support from the the Union Government.
"Despite repeated requests, no action has yet been taken to solve the problems being faced," the organisation said. " The situation has become more serious due to the indiscriminate import of butter oil and skimmed milk powder by some dairy companies."
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
