EU – Project
In 2021, 10 women leaders from four blocks in Osmanabad district started discussing the feasibility of operating a Farmer Producer Company in their area, which would sell a variety of products like vegetables, pulses, goats, dairy, egg and vermicompost. With the support of SSP, in August 2022 the Prema Gopalan Producer Company (PGPC) was formally registered. The company has 10 Directors who are all grassroots women leaders, and over 1000 shareholders, who were oriented on the benefits of being a part of the Producer Company. An initial investment in the PGPC was made by SSP, the individual Directors and from the nominal fee that the shareholders had to pay to join the Company.
Dairy businesses thrive in Tuljapur region of Osmanabad, Maharashtra. This however, does not mean that the farmers get a fare share of the profits. The malpractices around the business, which leaves the farmers with very less returns, often dissuades them from selling the milk to the dairy units.
Since the company started functioning, the focus has been on developing and strengthening the vegetable value chain. Equipped with the governments daily rate for vegetables, the directors buy produce from their shareholder farmers at a fair price and then sell it in larger markets. Each of the Directors has a different, and important role to play. Seema tai, a Director of PGPC, works with two other Directors to manage the Company’s accounts. She also looks after Market and Government Linkage opportunities that would benefit the company.
In the past 3 months, the Company has purchased around 10 tons of onions from farmers in Washi Block and are in the process of selling it in the Solapur wholesale market now. The Company is currently purchasing Soyabean from farmers, already having collected 8.5 tons of soyabean. They have negotiated a fair price for their Soyabean crop with a local snack producing company in Latur, and plan to sell their soyabean to the snack company by the end of this month. Once the chilly crop is harvested in the next month, the PGPC is also planning to purchase it from farmers, process it into spices and sell it in the market as a value- added product.
Looking Ahead
The PGPC has a functioning bank account in which they plan to invest their profits. After a year of functioning with successful returns, PGPC will be eligible for a variety of schemes and loans from the government and banks, that are tailored specifically for small businesses.
Directors of the PGPC are actively pursuing various marketing leads and exploring avenues for increasing sales of their products. In September 2022, they conducted a survey of over 500 households in Kallam town, from which they have identified around 150 households who are interested in regularly purchasing products from the Company. Weekly home deliveries to these households are starting by the end of November 2022. Contacts have also been established in the Kallam wholesale market, and negotiations lead by the Company Directors are underway to sell vegetables in bulk at this market.
Seema tai says that the Company’s Directors have many plans for the future, including renting out a central location for packaging, storing, and transporting their products. They are also looking at developing their own label and marketing material, along with getting an organic certification from the government for their products. “Since the company is newly operational, we are starting slow, but have many plans to take it forward, like establishing Cluster Level Business of 4-5 villages and selling different products that are produced by our farmers,” she says.
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