Spice Farming: Purushottam Jhamaji Bhude has set up a market in the village for the farmers who are cultivating spices
Now farmers practising spice farming do not have to wander outside for a reasonable price
Purushottam Jhamaji Bhude from Nagpur, Maharashtra, told Farmers of India that he often saw how far-flung farmers had to travel miles to sell their crops. Despite that, they could not get the right price. He initially contacted the farmers of his area doing Spice Farming and then went on to become a caravan.
Spice Farming | Farmers often have to deal with the problem of not getting the right price for their produce. Market availability is negligible in remote rural areas. In such a situation, farmers have to compromise with the real value of their produce. There is also a lack of agricultural produce markets in many states. In such a situation, the farmers have to depend on the traders, due to which the hope of getting fair price for the crops seems redundant. Purushottam Jhamaji Bhude, a resident of Nagpur city of Maharashtra, found a solution to these problems of the farmers of his area. In an exclusive conversation with Farmers of India, Purushottam Jhamaji Bhude shared his experiences with us.
Purushottam Jhamaji Bhude says that he sees many youths in his area who are not interested in farming. Such is the situation when he himself comes from a farming family. They move to big cities in search of work, do 8 to 10 thousand jobs, while they have the option that they can stay in their village and create employment opportunities.
Processing units set up for farmers of their area in 2017
Purushottam Bhude Zamaji said that he has been working on this direction since 2017. Before starting the processing unit, he took training from Krishna Valley Advanced Agriculture Foundation under the Agri-Clinic and Agri-Business Center (AC&ABC) scheme. During the training he saw that spices can be processed using indigenous techniques without harming the quality and nutrients.
Buy produce directly from more than 250 farmers
Purushottam Bhude installed a processing unit of spices in the back courtyard of his house in 2017. Then the spice growers started buying the produce directly from the farmers. In doing so, the farmers of many villages went on joining them and the caravan was formed. Today, about 250 farmers are associated with him, from whom he directly buys the produce. Purushottam Bhude says that he started with spices, now he also buys wheat, rice and pulses from farmers only. With this farmers no longer have to wander to sell their produce and they get a fair price for it.
They have this processing unit in the name of Saavi Natural Farming. In this, they process many spices like chili, turmeric, garlic, clove, fenugreek, coriander, cumin, branding and packaging them. Sometimes when there is more demand, they also buy the produce of spices from the farmers of other states. Let us inform that in 2020-21 in Maharashtra, about 4.24 lakh tonnes of spices were produced in about 82 thousand hectares.
Connect the people of the area with your business
The processing unit employs 12 people on a permanent basis. Apart from this, about 10 people also work in daily wages. Purushottam Jhamaji Bhude said that in the coming time, he is working on the goal of connecting many more youth with him.
Farmers become entrepreneurs themselves
Purushottam Bhude says that it is the responsibility of all of us that we all work together for the development and upliftment of the food donors of the country. He further said that now the time has come for farmers to become entrepreneurs themselves. Whatever you are cultivating, make it your business i.e. value addition to the produce and create by-products. Purushottam Jhamaji Bhude also gives consultancy related to farming.
Government is helping to open the processing unit
Under the Self-Reliant India Campaign, PM Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprise Scheme (PMFME Scheme) is being promoted across the country. To take advantage of PMFME Scheme, click on this link of the website of the Ministry of Food Processing Entrepreneurs, Government of India, mofpi.nic.in. Here you have to first register yourself. Then the applicants can apply by logging in with the login ID as per the guidelines given on the website.
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Spice Cultivation in India
India is the largest producer of spices in the world. Here 106.79 lakh tonnes of spices are produced in about 45.28 lakh hectares. Due to the variety of soil and climate, 63 types of spices are cultivated in the country. Out of these, 21 spices are mainly commercially produced. They are black pepper, chili, ginger, turmeric, garlic, cardamom (small and large), coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, carom seeds, dill seeds, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, tamarind, saffron, vanilla, curry leaves and mint. Garlic comes first in terms of highest production of spices. Chilli at second place, ginger at third and turmeric at number four are produced in the country. On the other hand, cumin is in the first place in terms of area, followed by spices like chilli, coriander, garlic etc.
Contact us: If farmers want to share information or experiences related to farming with us, then they can do this by calling us on the phone number 9599273766 or by writing an email to kisanofindia.mail@gmail.com or by sending your recording. Through Kisan of India, we will convey your message to the people, because we believe that if the farmers are advanced then the country is happy.