Notes from the last Paddy Crop on Anandham

Water Scarcity 

Our dependence on monsoons was never clearer, as Cauvery waters failed us yet again. With a delay in onset of monsoon, we had to pause the transplantation activities in the middle. Even though we have several borewell pumps on our farm, the lack of electricity wreaked havoc on our ability to irrigate even the nursery. Imagine the plight of small farmers. 

Government Plans

The huge gap between allocation and sanctioning of projects and their implementation was apparent. Community nurseries were proposed in every district to help farmers overcome the irrigation issues.

We were never taken up on the offering of our land for this initiative. I assume "for the records", the project was implemented fully and was a roaring success.

Loan Scheme

This seems to be the one scheme that works consistently well. I witnessed firsthand the number of small farmers and share croppers benefiting from the loans. We applied for crop loans from the Agricultural Cooperative Society as well as a nationalized bank. Certainly eased the cash flow during the time.

Insurance Fiasco

With the State Government announcing that all affected farmers would be reimbursed through their crop insurance, the mad rush to register for insurance began. Since we had obtained loans for most of our lands, our crop was already insured. I did join the throngs to register a small parcel that we hadn't included in our loans.

Everybody was optimistic that they would get at least some relief through the Government. However, the promised relief never materialized for anyone in the vicinity of our farming community.

Harvest and post-harvest

Harvest had to be done in two phases this year (see the first section on water scarcity). For the most part, it was pretty smooth. While not a bumper crop by any means, the yield met and slightly exceeded our expectations.

We wanted to experiment with baling hay this year. We ended up wasting all our hay (worth several tens of thousands of rupees), waiting for the hay baler to show up. Lesson learned.

Because of this delay, the next sesame crop got pushed back. With moisture drying up in the ground every day, this was very unfortunate.

To Sell or Not To Sell

Every year at harvest time, we discuss the need for good storage solutions, but so far we haven't acted on it. This year was no different. After lengthy discussions on the current price, expected price in a few months, the process involved in storing paddy long term etc., we decided to sell of most of our crop to the Government - through the Mobile TNCC center.

Then in a couple of months, the price went up significantly, leading us back to the discussion of building/buying a storage space.

The Bottom Line

We were in certainly in the black for this season. The food grains we stock for ourselves and direct distribution are not included in the value calculations.

Every time I post to the blog, I promise myself that I will post regularly hereon. Hopefully, this time it will stick. 

Misdirected Anger

A day in the life of a (relatively new) farmer...

Last month, we finished fencing the frontage of our field. Two days later, our farmhand (who also is named Anand) calls and tells us part of the fence has been wantonly damaged. If you're familiar with village life and strife in India, these sort of border disputes tend to get blown up into major fights. So, slightly apprehensive, my dad and I decided to first visit the site and check out the damage before proceeding with "other options". 

The damaged section was very small - the portion covering a bund/ridge (வரப்பு). The guy who did the damage lives right next to it. He came out after several people tell him to come out and talk with us. He seemed somewhat belligerent and this was his explanation. 

When he went out in the morning, there was no fence. When he came back in the evening, the fencing had been completed. He was completely drunk and didn't see the fence. He fought with it for the right of way, and lost - scraping his knees badly in the process. In a drunken stupor, he stumbled home, grabbed a crow bar (கடப்பாரை) and extracted vengeance on the poor fence. Apparently, he might have done more damage to the fence and probably himself, if the villagers hadn't relieved him of the crow bar. 

He complained that we should have done the fencing in one stretch and not trick him like this. We didn't know whether to be angry or just laugh. We ended up pretending to be angry. 

Postscript - a few days later, the fence attacker made a peace offering of some raw mangoes. They made for some delicious mango pickle. He also made an offer to repair the fence, but we declined. 

The Waiting Game in Agricultural Marketing

Since the beginning, our philosophy for Anandham has been to grow only crops that are directly consumable by the producers (that's us). This summer (as we did last summer), we sowed "எள்" (Ellu/Sesame) in most of our arable fields.



Due to various reasons, we had a sub-optimal yield. At prevailing prices at the time of harvest (a couple of months back), our yield would have lost us about 25-30% of our investment. Instead, we decided to just stock it at home and wait. Why? Because we could afford to (more about this later in the post).

Last week, we sold the majority of our sesame stock at INR12 more per kg than what we were offered less than two months back. At this rate, we even managed a decent profit for the season.

Now, to the waiting part - how many small and medium farmers could afford to wait two months or more to sell their produce? Only a very few. The rest have debts to repay and home expenses to take care of - they have to sell off their crop as soon as possible. The middlemen, whose business is to stockpile agricultural products at harvest time, end up making most of the profit from increases in prices. So, when Government ministers claim price increases benefit farmers, please don't believe them. 

Kaushalya Foundation - A Novel Take on Selling Vegetables

IIM அகமதாபாத்தின் MBA பட்டம், பலருக்கு பன்னாட்டு நிறுவனங்களில் லட்சக்கணக்கில் சம்பாதிப்பதற்கான நுழைவுச்சீட்டு. ஆனால், கௌஷலேந்தர குமார்க்கு அப்படி இல்லை.

இவர் ஒரு IIM அகமதாபாத் பட்டதாரி. பொதுவாக, IIM-களில் இருந்து வரும் MBA பட்டதாரிகளுக்கு, பன்னாட்டு நிறுவனங்களில் உயர் பதவி, கை நிறைய சம்பளம் என வாழ்க்கை பாதை எளிதாக அமைந்துவிடுகிறது. ஆனால், இவரோ  வித்தியாசமான வாழ்க்கையை தேர்ந்தெடுத்திருக்கிறார். அவர் இன்று ஒரு காய்கறி வியாபாரி.

படிப்பின் போது காய்கறிகள் விற்பவர்கள் பற்றி செய்த project-ஐ வைத்து, படித்து முடித்ததும் குளிரூட்டப்பட்ட தள்ளுவண்டி ஒன்றை புதிதாக வடிவமைத்தார். அத்தோடு நிறுத்திவிடாமல், தானே அதை வைத்து விற்பனையும் செய்ய ஆரம்பித்தார். விவசாயிகளிடம் இருந்து நேரடியாக காய்கறிகளை வாங்கி, நேரடியாக நுகர்வோரிடம் விற்பனை செய்தார். இடைத்தரகர்களுக்கு சென்று கொண்டிருந்த பெரிய பங்கை பகிர்ந்தளித்ததால் உற்பத்தி செய்பவர்களிடமும், வாங்குபவர்களிடமும் நல்ல வரவேற்பு.

இப்படி ஒரு நூதன யோசனையை வெற்றிகரமாக செயல்படுத்தி இருக்கும் கௌஷலேந்தர குமார் போன்றோர்தான் எனக்கு உத்வேகம் அளிக்கின்றனர்.

For my non-Tamil audience: 

Mr. Kaushalendra Kumar is a social entrepreneur and one of my sources of motivation. A graduate of IIM-A, he sells vegetables. Surprising, huh? The story is here. 

Why Agriculture?

I initially wanted this to be an elaborate post on all my logical reasoning and complex thought processes for this decision - but that's how it's been sitting as a draft for well over an year. Time to get it out!

Here are the reasons why I chose to be an agricultural entrepreneur.

I love Agriculture and Allied Activities

Every time I visited our native village, Edanganni, I felt at peace. I slept better there than anywhere else. 

My dad says we have agriculture in our veins - I guess that's true!

The Growing Demand for Food around the World 

I kept reading about increasing food prices, potential famines, food riots, food export restrictions and other similar stories. This recent NYT article kind of summarizes my fears. 

Increasing Usage of Pesticides in Food Crops 

We have all heard about the unintended side-effects of stronger and stronger pesticides applied on our food crops. We all worry about it. Those who can afford it, can switch over to premium-priced organic produce. What about the rest of us?

Educational background

I chose to become a veterinarian because of my love for animals. In my current work (which has the least possible relation to my field of study), I've thrived, but always felt a longing to return to what I studied for. 

Livestock rearing has always been a discussion in our circles - Agriculture, I felt, would be the ideal start towards an integrated farming system somewhere in the future. 

Miscellaneous

• I read about urban/community farming in places like Detroit, MI, experienced farmer's markets (the US version) and heard  many inspiring stories of entrepreneurial nature (Thanks NPR!). 
• I was intrigued by the idea of a small self-sustaining unit that required minimal inputs to operate normally and potentially require NO external inputs, in times of crisis/need. 
• I wanted my kids to experience the India I loved and continue to love. 

So, that's how Anandham - An Agri AdVenture was born. 

Second Round of Harvests

We just completed our second harvest season. For this season, we had two crops of urad dal (உளுந்து) and one sesame (எள்ளு) crop.

With the first urad dal crop, we gained some valuable experience, but not so much in terms of profits. However, the sesame crop thrived better and turned a decent profit margin. The second urad dal crop was promising, but the seasonal monsoon pounded the fields at an inopportune window and we are still awaiting the yield from that crop.

But overall, we remain very optimistic of the potential in agriculture. Soon, I will pen an update with where all this started from and what our vision is for the future.

Budget 2011 - Highlights for Agriculture

The 2011 Union Budget defines a four-pronged strategy to promote growth in the agricultural sector.

• Agricultural Production
• Conservation farming
• Pulses and oil-seed farming
  
• Reduction in wastage of produce
  
• Retail trade to be opened up
  
• Construction of storage facilities by private sector with Govt support
• Credit support for farmers
  
• Allotment for credit flow in 2010-11: INR3,75,000 crores.
  
• Incentive for on-time repayment of agricultural loans increased to 2% interest from 1%
  
• Impetus to food processing sector
  
• 15 more MFPs (Mega Food Parks) will be sanctioned (in addition to 10 MFPs sanctioned in earlier budgets)