Coming together of farmers has helped, says award-winning FPO

Velliangiri Uzhavan Farmer Producer Company Ltd. that recently won the ‘Best Performing Farmer Producer Company-Governance’ award said the coming together of farmers had helped its members as well as others. The company received the award from Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami at the Republic Day function held in Chennai.

The company’s chairman D. Kumar said that in the last eight years it had increased its turnover from ₹ 45,000 to ₹12 crore by sending vegetables, coconut and other produce to different parts of the country and abroad as well. The company had also helped farmers drip irrigate their fields, set up a vegetable sorting and grading centre in Booluvampatti and promote organic farming as well.

S.P. Velumani, one of the directors, said the coming together of farmers had helped them negotiate coconut price with traders, prevail upon them to agree to buy coconut based on weight and also negotiate with farm labourers to fix the cost of de-husking and harvesting coconuts.

In the process, farmers in and around Thondamuthur, who were not the members of the company, had also benefited, added R. Venkat Rasa, coordinator.

Mr. Kumar said the farmers came together to form the company with support from Isha Foundation, which had helped in every stage of the process. After forming the company and gaining experience, the company was helping farmers in other parts of the district come together to float similar farmers’ producer organisations. Another, benefit that the farmers in and around Thondamuthur had gained because of the company was that they were getting trained in organic farming as well, added A. Vel Mylsamy, another director.

The company said it received the ‘Best FPO’ award last year from Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.