He Formed an FPO, Gave Tribal Farmers a New Hope

Along with inspiring farmers for organic farming, Jagannath Tilgam is helping the tribal farmers of Chhattisgarh to move forward by selling their products through FPO. Jagannath Tilgam, who is himself a farmer, started FPO i.e. Farmer Producer Organization and is working to take them on the path of development by joining other tribal farmer colleagues with him.

Jagannath Tilgam goes to expos organized by NABARD or the Department of Agriculture at different places to sell the organic crop of farmers through his FPO formation. He spoke to Akshay Dubey, correspondent of Kisan of India, about the beginning of his FPO and his journey to inspire farmers for organic farming.

What is FPO?

Before knowing the story of Jagannath Tilgam, let us know what is FPO and how it works. FPO i.e. ‘Farmer Producer Organization’ is a self-help group formed by farmers, where one farmer helps another farmer.

By joining farmer producer organizations, small farmers easily get seeds, manure, fertilizers, pesticides, machinery, greenhouse, polyhouse, agricultural technology, market linkage, training, networking, financial help and technical support at cheap prices.

There should be at least 11 farmers to form an FPO. By joining this, farmers get the facility of loan, sale of crop, packaging, transportation, marketing etc. with mutual cooperation. Farmers can also start their own agri business by joining FPO.

Promoting organic farming through FPO formation

Farmer Jagannath Tilgam, who hails from Kabirdham district of Chhattisgarh, said that he has formed an FPO named Kabirdham Organic Producer Company Limited. Recently, he reached the Agri Expo held in Delhi with products like Jeera Shankar Rice, Black Rice, Ragi, Kodo, Kutki etc., which were grown organically. Jagannath is the director of FPO. He says that wherever NABARD sets up a stall, he goes there and sells the products through his FPO.

How did he set up FPO?

The task of connecting farmers for FPO and motivating them for organic farming was not easy for Jagannath. He says that he got information about FPO from the Agriculture Department. Initially, the Agriculture Department itself told him how to form an FPO. Then 10 people were called for a meeting and a discussion was held with them. They were explained that by forming an FPO, it will be easy for them to sell their produce directly in the market, which will increase their profit.

Also, it was a bit difficult to motivate farmers for organic farming, because most of the farmers feel that the crop will not be good without urea, but gradually the farmers were also convinced and now the tribal farmers of the area are growing Ragi, Kodo, Kutki, Black Rice, Jeera Shankar Rice in an organic way. Now they are doing organic farming with cow dung, leaves, rotten grass, vermicompost instead of urea.

Jeera Shankar Rice with Excellent Aroma

Chhattisgarh’s Jeera Shankar Rice is famous all over the world for its excellent aroma and taste. Jagannath tells that this rice has great importance in the area and people have been eating it with great pleasure since ancient times. The grains of this rice are very small like cumin and when cooked, they look soft, shiny and very tasty.

Its special feature is that it takes less than 10 minutes to cook and even after cooling, this rice remains soft. This rice is cultivated the most in Seoni district of Chhattisgarh and this rice has become the identity of the district. Jeerashankar paddy is planted in about 12000 hectares of area of ​​this rice.

Specialty of Black Rice

The black rice that the tribal farmers of Karibdham district of Chhattisgarh are cultivating along with millets is considered very beneficial for health and its price is also many times more than normal rice. Experts say that black rice has the highest immunity compared to other rice.

Along with this, it does not contain cholesterol at all, while fiber and protein are found in abundance. It also reduces the chances of heart attack and stroke. Apart from this, it takes care of heart health, is helpful in reducing weight. Due to so many benefits, its demand is increasing, due to which farmers are also inspired to cultivate it. 

Sales through FPO

Jagannath Tilgam is trying to improve the living standards of the tribal farmers of his area by motivating them to do organic farming. Along with this, he is also solving their market problem through FPO, because now farmers will not have the problem of selling quality grains, sales will be done easily through FPO. Organic farming of nutritious grains will give good income to the farmers and common people will get the gift of good health.

Jagannath Tilgam says that he benefits by going to stalls set up at different places, because there they can meet each other and talk about their product, make a marketing plan, and can get the products which they do not have from others.

Jagannath further says that in view of the way environmental pollution is increasing due to chemical farming these days and the outbreak of fatal diseases like cancer is increasing, organic farming of nutritious grains has become the need of the hour and now every farmer should try to do farming only in an organic way.