CHANDIGARH – A group of farmers mainly from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have come together under one umbrella to market their organic produce in Chandigarh.
Starting on a pilot basis in Chandigarh, the model has caught the fancy of NGOs, cooperatives and self-help groups. Considering a huge demand of organic produce, they are marketed through mandis across the state.
“The idea came to us during the National Organic Farming Convention organised last year in Chandigarh. We discussed the challenges being faced by organic producers and it came to the fore that marketing the produce was a big issue. Many farmers were interested in doing organic farming but at the end of the day they needed remunerative price for their produce. This is how the idea was mooted to have an organic mandi,” said Raman Mann, a farmer.
She is having 15 acres near Ropar and does organic farming and grows vegetables, wheat, pulses and potato.
Raman in association with Dr UN Roy, professor and head, Department of Rural Development, National Institute of Technical Teachers Training & Research, brought 15 farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh under one room to market their produce in Chandigarh on every Friday.
Initially, the organic mandi concept was started in July last year in Chandigarh by Roy and Mann and the producers marketed vegetables, fruits, pulses, rice, wheat etc. at a single location.
Raman and Roy are volunteering to encourage more farmers from across the state to participate and also make consumers equal partners in the effort.
The concept caught cynosure of other NGOs, cooperatives, SHGs, etc, and other stakeholders who took it across Punjab, like the Kheti Virasat Mission, an NGO engaged in promotion of organic food and farming, hosts a weekly ‘Kudrati Kisan Haat’ in Panchkula, Chandigarh, and other cities of Punjab like Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Barnala, Gurdaspur and Batala.
“We are planning to take it across Punjab and soon we will introduce this concept in Amritsar and Faridkot,” said Rajiv Kohli, director-marketing, Kheti Virasat Mission.’
Through the mandis, farmers are getting at least 1.5 to 3 times more prices over conventional produce. What seems to be interesting is that many young and new entrants are joining the organic bandwagon. For example, Chandigarh-based Shivraj Bhullar, who left his job in Canada and has chosen to do natural and organic farming at his farm in Chandigarh. So is Seema Jolly, who has masters in economics and left her job in Delhi to do organic farming at Karoran village in Punjab near Chandigarh.
According to rough estimates, there are over 10,000 acres in Punjab under organic farming.
