The KMSSN, registered under the Souharda Act, has been operational at Sirsi since 2005. They aim at providing economic value to farmer produce of the region. In conversation with Mr. Vishweshwara Bhat, CEO, KMSSN.
Mr Vishweshara Bhat, kindly give a brief introduction about yourself and what you do.
I am the CEO of the Kadamba Marketing, which is a Farmers' Cooperative Society in Sirsi, Karnataka. We mainly concentrate on organic farming. We purchase all farmer produce, with no restriction on the quantity of produce. Also, in each district there is a farmers' federation, formed by the Government and I am the President of the Uttar Kannada wing. At the state federation level I am the Vice President as well. At Kadamba Marketing, we do value addition for many of the products and market the products as well. We cover 10-11 taluks and there are 4200 farmers that we cater to. In our area, there are minor forest items and some intercrops like jaggery, spices, coconut, cocoa etc. We purchase all farmers' produce. We purchase around 28 items from the farmers. We have many women entrepreneurs in our area. Collectively, they make about 105 products like papads, spice powders, etc. These are value added products we sell in Karnataka and out of the state as well, like Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Delhi etc. We also export certain items like turmeric, ginger and black pepper.
Your society is very popular and we hear it is doing well. As a CEO, what activities do you cater to?
We market the farmer produce and create organic-farming awareness amongst farmers. We also certify farmers who conduct organic farming. Without certification, we cannot sell them under the organic products label. So many farmers are doing organic and to fetch them the proper price, we aid with certifications at no additional cost. We also, in association with NABARD, impart quality training programmes to farmers. There are so many cases of diseased crops when it comes to black pepper, in our area. So, timely training is of high importance.
How long has it been since you have ventured into certification activities?
We have been doing it since 2006. We have around 1200 farmers in the organic sector now.
While buying farmer produce, what criteria do you follow for fixing the price?
We fixed it mainly based on market prices. We make our price-process transparent to our farmers. For example, if we are purchasing coconuts, we are transparent about the price we can purchase from them and also the price we sell the coconut is exhibited at our counter. We base our price on the market and the international study etc.
Do you quote a price above the minimum supporting price?
Yes, definitely! Organic farmers get 15% above the regular marketing price.
What are your main crops?
Arecanut is the main crop in our district. The intercrops that we have are black pepper, cardamom, cloves, turmeric, cashew, coconut, etc. We use a lot of liquid jaggery. In fact all of the sweets made in this region use jaggery. I think we only use sugar for tea and coffee. We have a special kind of jaggery in our area. Use of liquid jaggery is extremely healthy. Research shows that many youngsters are pre-diabetic in today's times, which is dangerous and this arises due to use of sugar. This can be avoided by replacing sugar with jaggery.
Is there a market demand for the liquid jaggery/cube/powder?
At an international level, the demand is for powdered jaggery. It is fast moving. This is true for local and traditional varieties of red rice - not the hybrid variety - also. There is a demand in the international market.
How are you all managing the finances?
We do have challenges in that space:
Tax is the main issue. We are requesting for tax rebates when it comes to farmer produce, esp. for cooperative societies.
There are quality aspects as well that needs to be tackled. We impart so much of training to farmers but despite this there are quality issues. Quality issues creep in because of heavy rains, etc. June to until October there will be heavy rains which can hamper the quality of produce. But then, that is a challenge.
Are the Government rules and regulations a challenge?
Honestly, the Act is pretty liberal. Only for registrations etc. we need to take government permissions. So, that is not an issue. They don't interfere regularly.
Thank you Mr Vishweshwara, for your time today.
Thank you!
Contact :
Vishweshwar Bhat
Company Kadamba Marketing
Street APMC
City SIRSI
Zip Code 581402
Country India
State Karnataka
Contact number - 9242185319
Email contact@kadambamarketing.com
Mr Vishweshara Bhat, kindly give a brief introduction about yourself and what you do.
I am the CEO of the Kadamba Marketing, which is a Farmers' Cooperative Society in Sirsi, Karnataka. We mainly concentrate on organic farming. We purchase all farmer produce, with no restriction on the quantity of produce. Also, in each district there is a farmers' federation, formed by the Government and I am the President of the Uttar Kannada wing. At the state federation level I am the Vice President as well. At Kadamba Marketing, we do value addition for many of the products and market the products as well. We cover 10-11 taluks and there are 4200 farmers that we cater to. In our area, there are minor forest items and some intercrops like jaggery, spices, coconut, cocoa etc. We purchase all farmers' produce. We purchase around 28 items from the farmers. We have many women entrepreneurs in our area. Collectively, they make about 105 products like papads, spice powders, etc. These are value added products we sell in Karnataka and out of the state as well, like Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Delhi etc. We also export certain items like turmeric, ginger and black pepper.
Your society is very popular and we hear it is doing well. As a CEO, what activities do you cater to?
We market the farmer produce and create organic-farming awareness amongst farmers. We also certify farmers who conduct organic farming. Without certification, we cannot sell them under the organic products label. So many farmers are doing organic and to fetch them the proper price, we aid with certifications at no additional cost. We also, in association with NABARD, impart quality training programmes to farmers. There are so many cases of diseased crops when it comes to black pepper, in our area. So, timely training is of high importance.
How long has it been since you have ventured into certification activities?
We have been doing it since 2006. We have around 1200 farmers in the organic sector now.
While buying farmer produce, what criteria do you follow for fixing the price?
We fixed it mainly based on market prices. We make our price-process transparent to our farmers. For example, if we are purchasing coconuts, we are transparent about the price we can purchase from them and also the price we sell the coconut is exhibited at our counter. We base our price on the market and the international study etc.
Do you quote a price above the minimum supporting price?
Yes, definitely! Organic farmers get 15% above the regular marketing price.
What are your main crops?
Arecanut is the main crop in our district. The intercrops that we have are black pepper, cardamom, cloves, turmeric, cashew, coconut, etc. We use a lot of liquid jaggery. In fact all of the sweets made in this region use jaggery. I think we only use sugar for tea and coffee. We have a special kind of jaggery in our area. Use of liquid jaggery is extremely healthy. Research shows that many youngsters are pre-diabetic in today's times, which is dangerous and this arises due to use of sugar. This can be avoided by replacing sugar with jaggery.
Is there a market demand for the liquid jaggery/cube/powder?
At an international level, the demand is for powdered jaggery. It is fast moving. This is true for local and traditional varieties of red rice - not the hybrid variety - also. There is a demand in the international market.
How are you all managing the finances?
We do have challenges in that space:
Tax is the main issue. We are requesting for tax rebates when it comes to farmer produce, esp. for cooperative societies.
There are quality aspects as well that needs to be tackled. We impart so much of training to farmers but despite this there are quality issues. Quality issues creep in because of heavy rains, etc. June to until October there will be heavy rains which can hamper the quality of produce. But then, that is a challenge.
Are the Government rules and regulations a challenge?
Honestly, the Act is pretty liberal. Only for registrations etc. we need to take government permissions. So, that is not an issue. They don't interfere regularly.
Thank you Mr Vishweshwara, for your time today.
Thank you!
Contact :
Vishweshwar Bhat
Company Kadamba Marketing
Street APMC
City SIRSI
Zip Code 581402
Country India
State Karnataka
Contact number - 9242185319
Email contact@kadambamarketing.com
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