Organic takeover

A federation of farmer-producer organisations taps into the growing organic market to help members raise incomes

- ABHAY KUMAR SINGH

CATERING DIRECTLY to the consumers' needs assures better marketability and incomes. This is what nearly 10,000 farmers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have realised over the past decade and are now steering a silent organic movement.

It all began in 2009, when a group of consumers in Hyderabad, then part of unified Andhra Pradesh, established a cooperative society to source chemical-free produce directly from farmers. Operating under the guidance of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA), a Hyderabad-based research nonprofit, the cooperative society over a period of time roped in a few farmers and began to sell the produce through a farmer-run retail store in Secunderabad and mobile retail vans that travelled to urban areas. Soon, more and more organic farmers joined the cooperative society and what had started off as a consumers' initiative became a farmers' group. In 2013, when the government floated the concept of farmer producer organisation (FPO) to aggregate collection of produce and create market links for better prices under the Companies Act of 2013, CSA and the cooperative society saw this as an opportunity.

Establishing an FPO also helps gain financial support from the government. Thus, in 2014, all the farmers' groups under the cooperative society registered themselves as organic FPOS, and the society at the helm as Sahaja Aharam Producer Company Limited, a unique "federation" of organic FPOS. That was the year when Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh. But Sahaja Aharam continued its operation as a federation with FPOS from both the states. Today, as many as 23 organic FPOS with over 9,000 farmers across 180 villages are part the federation. The groups are spread over the southern plateau and hills of Andhra Pradesh, as well as the north, central and southern parts of Telangana. The farmers grow paddy, cereals, oilseeds, pulses, fruits, vegetables and spices.