Farmers turn entrepreneurs in Telangana

Form groups with support of scientists to sell paddy, fertilizers, seeds

Karimnagar: Farmers of a few villages in the district are turning into entrepreneurs and doing business by forming groups with the support of scientists of the Jammikunta Krushi Vignana Kendra. Besides giving required training, farmers have also been educated about the benefits of marketing their own produce by Krushi Vignana Kendram.

Such groups have been formed in the seven villages of Jammikunta, Manikyapur of Bheemadavarapalli mandal, Saidapur, Gagireddypalli of Chigurumamidi, Gopalpur, Gopalpur and Keshavapur of Elkathurthy mandal.

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Besides selling rice by processing paddy, other products including fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, and chilli powder are also being sold by the farmer groups. While a few of the groups have already constructed their own buildings with profits earned through the business, some others are planning to establish rice mills by taking bank loans.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Ugge Shekhar, chairman of Navakranti Farmers’ Producers Company, Manikyapur, said they had been engaged in procurement of paddy and maize from farmers and were selling them to the Civil Supplies Department and Markfed respectively.
If the price of maize was lower in the market, they would purchase the crop from farmers by providing remunerative prices and sell it to Markfed later. Besides doing business, farmers would be prevented from distress sale to middlemen, he said.

Besides the paddy and maize business, fertilizers, pesticides, and cotton seeds are also being sold by the group, which has 680 members.
Shekhar said they had so far earned a profit of Rs 30 lakh through the business. They constructed a new building spending Rs 25 lakh. Another Rs 10 lakh was pending with the Civil Supplies Department.

Though they wanted to establish a rice mill, they were unable to get land. Banks had come forward to provide Rs 1.30 crore for the rice mill. NABARD would provide a 35 per cent subsidy, he informed.

Another farmer and chairman of Sagumitra Farmers’ Producing Company, Gopalpur, Chidurala Rajamouli, said they had started a rice business in the last season. They would purchase both BPT and RNR varieties of paddy from farmers and process the paddy in rice mills. They were selling a 25 kg rice bag at Rs 10 less than that of other farmers’ cooperative societies.

Informing that 100 quintals of rice were sold in the last season, he said that so far this season, 60 to 70 quintals of rice have already been sold. They had decided to establish a rice mill by getting a bank loan and were searching for land. A resolution was passed in the recent gram panchayat to allocate one acre of land for the construction of a rice mill.

Agriculture Scientist and Jammikunta Krishi Vigyan Kendra Coordinator, Dr Venkateshwar Rao said that instead of selling raw produce, it would be better for farmers to sell processed products to get more benefits. So, they were encouraging farmers to enter into the business to get more profits, he said.