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Group of farmers in Jhansi meet regularly to improve agriculture in UP against all odds
Rahul Richhariya is part of a group of farmers based in Jhansi, Bundelkhand. “We are an unregistered group and work on mutual understanding. We meet daily and interact on phone. Our agenda is how to do better farming by sharing thoughts and techniques,” says Mr. Ricchariya. “All farmers in the group are collectively trying to make agriculture better in UP irrespective of all odds. Our aim is to uplift Indian farming and farmer’s way of living by doing scientific farming and to stop farmers’ suicide in Bundelkhand,” he adds.
Scientific Methods
The group consults scientists of KVK learns and adopts latest scientific farming. “We ask questions and and they guide us. They also visit our land and give us training. We also visit fairs and seminars.” Speaking about help and guidance from government,” says Mr. Ricchariya. He adds, “If government provides us all agriculture related services like good quality seed, pesticides, mandi, and agriculture consultancy at village level at the right time, then farmers will get all agri related help at one stop shop. This benefits farmers as well as agriculture in India.”
Main Commodities
The main commodities grown in the Jhansi area are wheat, basmati paddy, all types of pulses, cereals, horticulture crop, and spices crop. “Here summers are dry hot and winters are not too cold,” says Mr. Ricchariya.
Eliminating Middlemen
Further speaking about middlemen in the business, Mr. Ricchariya says, “It is very heart breaking that mediators take all the profit of farmers. In India due to lack of any structured body which fixes the price of farmer’s output, farmers get cheated. The farmers also have no right to fix the price of his crop according to the investment, the middlemen fix the price and take the entire product below the input cost, and farmers cannot do anything about it.”
Inviting MNC food processing to set up plants in the area and collect grains directly from the farmers cutting out the middlemen, he says, “We can supply regularly all our harvested products as much as they want. I invite these companies to come and set a food process industry in the area and we are ready to cooperate with them.”
He adds, “If any agribusiness houses set up food process industry or implement PPP model farming with farmers then definitely farmers can benefit and increase their income. The companies too will get plenty of raw materials at the same place. So we want agribusiness comp to come and start an agriculture based project. “
Major Challenges
When asked about the main problems faced by the farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Ricchariya says, “They don’t get good market in UP and the lack of proper government channels for distribution of seed, fertilizer, pesticide, consultancy, water, electricity. Some state governments like in Punjab and Haryana provide free and subsidized inputs to the farmers but not the UP government.
He laments, “In India agriculture sector is a very broad sector. It is also unstructured and unorganized. Some government policies are not farmer friendly either. If Indian government allows privatization of the agriculture sector then we can become topper in the world. For example agri business companies can grow anything in the barren land by using scientific techniques and earn money, while farmers are unable to earn even from fertile land.”
Regarding exports, he says, “In UP most of the farmers are illiterate and poor. So they think first about fulfilling their basic needs. I contacted some exporters to do business with us but they give low price to the farmers for their product. When farmers have handsome money in their hand they will definitely think about exports and elaborate their agri business activities. Today farmers are poor and my aim is to first make farmers financially strong and then take help from others.”
Milestones Achieved
Mr. Ricchariya explains, “All the members in our group work independently in their own agriculture land on the basis of mutual understanding. We share our views, new and innovative agri scientific techniques and seeds besides others. This way we do farming and set a model farm in the area so that other farmers can learn from the model farm. Then apply same thing on their agriculture land. We always take initiative to do something new in agriculture. We always help and promote farmers to apply scientific techniques in agriculture.”
He adds, “Previously no farmer in our district was cultivating basmati paddy and pulses in our district, but now thousands of farmers are cultivating these crops and uplifting their way of living.
DAO also gave a proposal to UP government to set a basmati paddy mandi and rice mill in this area. This year our group also requested the DM of Jhansi to start water canals for irrigation of paddy and the DM approved our request. Now thousands of farmers have benefited from this approval.”
So what are your impressions are reading this article? Feel free to ask questions and leave feedback on this article. The editorial team of AgricultureInfomation.com and Mr. Rahul Richhariya will monitor and respond to your comments.
Rahul Richhariya is part of a group of farmers based in Jhansi, Bundelkhand. “We are an unregistered group and work on mutual understanding. We meet daily and interact on phone. Our agenda is how to do better farming by sharing thoughts and techniques,” says Mr. Ricchariya. “All farmers in the group are collectively trying to make agriculture better in UP irrespective of all odds. Our aim is to uplift Indian farming and farmer’s way of living by doing scientific farming and to stop farmers’ suicide in Bundelkhand,” he adds.
Scientific Methods
The group consults scientists of KVK learns and adopts latest scientific farming. “We ask questions and and they guide us. They also visit our land and give us training. We also visit fairs and seminars.” Speaking about help and guidance from government,” says Mr. Ricchariya. He adds, “If government provides us all agriculture related services like good quality seed, pesticides, mandi, and agriculture consultancy at village level at the right time, then farmers will get all agri related help at one stop shop. This benefits farmers as well as agriculture in India.”
Main Commodities
The main commodities grown in the Jhansi area are wheat, basmati paddy, all types of pulses, cereals, horticulture crop, and spices crop. “Here summers are dry hot and winters are not too cold,” says Mr. Ricchariya.
Eliminating Middlemen
Further speaking about middlemen in the business, Mr. Ricchariya says, “It is very heart breaking that mediators take all the profit of farmers. In India due to lack of any structured body which fixes the price of farmer’s output, farmers get cheated. The farmers also have no right to fix the price of his crop according to the investment, the middlemen fix the price and take the entire product below the input cost, and farmers cannot do anything about it.”
Inviting MNC food processing to set up plants in the area and collect grains directly from the farmers cutting out the middlemen, he says, “We can supply regularly all our harvested products as much as they want. I invite these companies to come and set a food process industry in the area and we are ready to cooperate with them.”
He adds, “If any agribusiness houses set up food process industry or implement PPP model farming with farmers then definitely farmers can benefit and increase their income. The companies too will get plenty of raw materials at the same place. So we want agribusiness comp to come and start an agriculture based project. “
Major Challenges
When asked about the main problems faced by the farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Ricchariya says, “They don’t get good market in UP and the lack of proper government channels for distribution of seed, fertilizer, pesticide, consultancy, water, electricity. Some state governments like in Punjab and Haryana provide free and subsidized inputs to the farmers but not the UP government.
He laments, “In India agriculture sector is a very broad sector. It is also unstructured and unorganized. Some government policies are not farmer friendly either. If Indian government allows privatization of the agriculture sector then we can become topper in the world. For example agri business companies can grow anything in the barren land by using scientific techniques and earn money, while farmers are unable to earn even from fertile land.”
Regarding exports, he says, “In UP most of the farmers are illiterate and poor. So they think first about fulfilling their basic needs. I contacted some exporters to do business with us but they give low price to the farmers for their product. When farmers have handsome money in their hand they will definitely think about exports and elaborate their agri business activities. Today farmers are poor and my aim is to first make farmers financially strong and then take help from others.”
Milestones Achieved
Mr. Ricchariya explains, “All the members in our group work independently in their own agriculture land on the basis of mutual understanding. We share our views, new and innovative agri scientific techniques and seeds besides others. This way we do farming and set a model farm in the area so that other farmers can learn from the model farm. Then apply same thing on their agriculture land. We always take initiative to do something new in agriculture. We always help and promote farmers to apply scientific techniques in agriculture.”
He adds, “Previously no farmer in our district was cultivating basmati paddy and pulses in our district, but now thousands of farmers are cultivating these crops and uplifting their way of living.
DAO also gave a proposal to UP government to set a basmati paddy mandi and rice mill in this area. This year our group also requested the DM of Jhansi to start water canals for irrigation of paddy and the DM approved our request. Now thousands of farmers have benefited from this approval.”
So what are your impressions are reading this article? Feel free to ask questions and leave feedback on this article. The editorial team of AgricultureInfomation.com and Mr. Rahul Richhariya will monitor and respond to your comments.