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THIS IS A TWO PART ARTICLE. PART I AVAILABLE AT
http://www.agricultureinformation.com/discuss/threads/rural-and-urban-partnership-in-india-part-1.5328/
Mr. Selvakumar Varadharajan
Improves farmer income and turns rural youth into entrepreneurs
Farmer producing food by putting in hard labour toiling under the hot sun doesn’t earn 2/3 of what is been paid by the consumers! Sometimes it is even less than 50% in many commodities! Besides youth staye away from agriculture and opt for doing menial job in cities! “Agriculture in India is at its worst! This needs to be changed hence I started Laymen Agro Ventures, an aggregator model that aims at channelizing the lion’s share of consumers’ price back to the rural economy ensuring better returns to the agro-outputs and supply agro-inputs at a wholesale price that doubles the net margin for the ultimate farmers. Also most important, through my venture I am trying to turn rural youth into entrepreneurs (VillagePreneurs),” shares Mr. Selvakumar Varadharajan, Chief Executive, Laymen Agro Ventures. Company is located at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Selvakumar Varadharajan & Team
Working on an alternate-distribution channel, Mr. Selvakumar and his team at Laymen Agro Ventures deliver village fresh agro-products directly from the farmers to the end-user. “The responsibility of transporting the commodities from the village to the cities lies on the shoulder of rural youth, VillagePreneurs. He shuttles between the village and city on his vehicle to bring agro-outputs from village to city and returns back with agro-inputs for the farmers. He has his own share both sides. The down payment of the vehicle is paid by Laymen Agro Ventures while the youth pays the monthly EMI. In this way he is able to earn a net income of Rs. 30 thousand, three times more what they earned in the cities and is an entrepreneur. Besides he works only for 6 hours instead of 9-10 hours in cities,” he says.
“The first product on our list to be supplied using this model is milk,” he informs. Milk is sold under the brandname VilFresh. VillagePreneur collects the milk directly from five dairy farmers and take it to the nearby city in less than 162 minutes and distribute the same to the end user right at the door-step. “By reducing all the levels in milk supply chain the farmers get 25% to 35% more than what they get in routine. This multi-fold margin results in a substantial jump in the disposable income of farmers. The technology of extraction from cow and the associates milk cans and finally the vessels of consumers to be fool proof, where no possibility of adding a drop of water. This ensures the quality of the milk is intact! We use the same distribution channel for other agro commodities where we assure 40% to 60% better returns on fruits & vegetables,” asserts Mr. Selvakumar. Presently company operations are in Coimbatore. The agri produce is collected from Kovilpalayam, Pachapalayam and Devampalayam villages located on outskirts of Coimbatore.
End-consumers are promised of best quality at a slight premium price of all agricultural commodities. “Our products are limited as of now but we stick to the quality. We give what it is that means milk will be milk and ghee will be ghee. There will be absolutely no adulteration or cheating in volume. We pack our produce in eco-friendly packing as far as possible. For example we sell milk in 500 ml glass bottle only in one variety. It is sold at Rs. 50/litre. Pure ghee (golden color) is sold at Rs. 560/litre. Similarly we have products such as fruits, vegetables, pulses and cold-pressed oil etc. At the moment accept milk rest all the agriculture commodities are sold subject to availability,” he elaborates. “Presently only through word of mouth and viral marketing we have a customer network of 40 families. The number is growing every day.”
In time to come, “We are launching a mobile app to ease out the grocery purchase for urban buyer and fasten the communication with them about the supply of various agricultural commodities. On supply side - we are actively engaging the farmers association in each village under the district umbrella with healthy discussion to supply milk and other agro products to meet the demand. I ensure to procure all the commodities within 35 km distance between the producer source to selling location. I would never go beyond this limit. I want to replicate the same model in different cities,” he reveals.
He concludes, "It is high time to arrive at farmers' centric policies as 'service led economy' cannot feed 125+ crore Indians! And rural youth take the pride to be entrepreneurs instead of being at service of urban professionals."
Mr. Selvakumar belongs to an agricultural family. He did his M.Sc in Finance and Control from Coimbatore college and served for different corporate before turning into entrepreneur. He was actively engaged in free placement and training services in government colleges across Karnataka. However, to bridge the gap between the farmer and consumer was his true calling where we aspire for reverse migration of youth to his family in village and deserved revenues for farmer.
Contact details:
Laymen Agro Ventures Private Limited
194 C, Sankara Eye Hospital Road, Ganapathi, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Mobile – 09845016008
Email: selvakumar.kv@gmail.com
Web: http://www.vilfreshindia.com/
http://www.agricultureinformation.com/discuss/threads/rural-and-urban-partnership-in-india-part-1.5328/
Mr. Selvakumar Varadharajan
Improves farmer income and turns rural youth into entrepreneurs
Farmer producing food by putting in hard labour toiling under the hot sun doesn’t earn 2/3 of what is been paid by the consumers! Sometimes it is even less than 50% in many commodities! Besides youth staye away from agriculture and opt for doing menial job in cities! “Agriculture in India is at its worst! This needs to be changed hence I started Laymen Agro Ventures, an aggregator model that aims at channelizing the lion’s share of consumers’ price back to the rural economy ensuring better returns to the agro-outputs and supply agro-inputs at a wholesale price that doubles the net margin for the ultimate farmers. Also most important, through my venture I am trying to turn rural youth into entrepreneurs (VillagePreneurs),” shares Mr. Selvakumar Varadharajan, Chief Executive, Laymen Agro Ventures. Company is located at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Selvakumar Varadharajan & Team
Working on an alternate-distribution channel, Mr. Selvakumar and his team at Laymen Agro Ventures deliver village fresh agro-products directly from the farmers to the end-user. “The responsibility of transporting the commodities from the village to the cities lies on the shoulder of rural youth, VillagePreneurs. He shuttles between the village and city on his vehicle to bring agro-outputs from village to city and returns back with agro-inputs for the farmers. He has his own share both sides. The down payment of the vehicle is paid by Laymen Agro Ventures while the youth pays the monthly EMI. In this way he is able to earn a net income of Rs. 30 thousand, three times more what they earned in the cities and is an entrepreneur. Besides he works only for 6 hours instead of 9-10 hours in cities,” he says.
“The first product on our list to be supplied using this model is milk,” he informs. Milk is sold under the brandname VilFresh. VillagePreneur collects the milk directly from five dairy farmers and take it to the nearby city in less than 162 minutes and distribute the same to the end user right at the door-step. “By reducing all the levels in milk supply chain the farmers get 25% to 35% more than what they get in routine. This multi-fold margin results in a substantial jump in the disposable income of farmers. The technology of extraction from cow and the associates milk cans and finally the vessels of consumers to be fool proof, where no possibility of adding a drop of water. This ensures the quality of the milk is intact! We use the same distribution channel for other agro commodities where we assure 40% to 60% better returns on fruits & vegetables,” asserts Mr. Selvakumar. Presently company operations are in Coimbatore. The agri produce is collected from Kovilpalayam, Pachapalayam and Devampalayam villages located on outskirts of Coimbatore.
End-consumers are promised of best quality at a slight premium price of all agricultural commodities. “Our products are limited as of now but we stick to the quality. We give what it is that means milk will be milk and ghee will be ghee. There will be absolutely no adulteration or cheating in volume. We pack our produce in eco-friendly packing as far as possible. For example we sell milk in 500 ml glass bottle only in one variety. It is sold at Rs. 50/litre. Pure ghee (golden color) is sold at Rs. 560/litre. Similarly we have products such as fruits, vegetables, pulses and cold-pressed oil etc. At the moment accept milk rest all the agriculture commodities are sold subject to availability,” he elaborates. “Presently only through word of mouth and viral marketing we have a customer network of 40 families. The number is growing every day.”
In time to come, “We are launching a mobile app to ease out the grocery purchase for urban buyer and fasten the communication with them about the supply of various agricultural commodities. On supply side - we are actively engaging the farmers association in each village under the district umbrella with healthy discussion to supply milk and other agro products to meet the demand. I ensure to procure all the commodities within 35 km distance between the producer source to selling location. I would never go beyond this limit. I want to replicate the same model in different cities,” he reveals.
He concludes, "It is high time to arrive at farmers' centric policies as 'service led economy' cannot feed 125+ crore Indians! And rural youth take the pride to be entrepreneurs instead of being at service of urban professionals."
Mr. Selvakumar belongs to an agricultural family. He did his M.Sc in Finance and Control from Coimbatore college and served for different corporate before turning into entrepreneur. He was actively engaged in free placement and training services in government colleges across Karnataka. However, to bridge the gap between the farmer and consumer was his true calling where we aspire for reverse migration of youth to his family in village and deserved revenues for farmer.
Contact details:
Laymen Agro Ventures Private Limited
194 C, Sankara Eye Hospital Road, Ganapathi, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Mobile – 09845016008
Email: selvakumar.kv@gmail.com
Web: http://www.vilfreshindia.com/