T.V. Gopinath does not seem to bask in the reflected glory of his daughter Geetha Gopinath who was recently chosen by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as his economic advisor.
An agro-entrepreneur of over two decade’s standing based in Mysore, Mr. Gopinath is always pre-occupied with wooing youngsters to farming.
“The government should provide infrastructure to promote farming. They should either lease land or other supporting facilities such as water and road,” he said during TiECON Kerala, a two-day convention of entrepreneurs.
The founder-director of Mysore-based Raitha Mitra Farmers Producer Company Ltd., a company with 1,200-odd land-owning individual farmers as shareholders, Mr. Gopinath is set to recommend this successful model for Kerala.
The farmers are engaged in the production of a variety of crops and the company provides all inputs from fertilisers to seeds and take care of the marketing of the produce. The company buys back the produce at a pre-determined price but profit is divided among the shareholders.
It was started with just 20 farmers two years ago and made profits in the very first year.
“We receive numerous applications to become shareholders of the company but have kept them in abeyance. Right now there is a cap of Rs.20 lakh in share capital to avail of government subsidy. But once we grow and no longer need the subsidy we can do away with that cap,” Mr. Gopinath said.
The government should provide infrastructure to promote farming. They should either lease land or other supporting facilities such as water and road
T.V. Gopinath
Director, Raitha Mitra Farmers Producer Company