Besides providing monetary help to the farmers under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, the Govt., has been providing equity grants to encourage Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). An Uttarakhand-based FPO-Jivamrit Organic Farmer Producer Company, Haridwar, is one of its examples.
On the occasion of Happy New Year 2022, a virtual meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the officials of Uttarakhand-based FPO-Jivamrit Organic Farmer Producer Company, Haridwar was organized under PM Kisan Yojana as this FPO-Jivamrit got selected from Uttarakhand state because of its outstanding work in natural/organic farming. The excerpt of the conversation between the PM and the FPO-Jivamrit is below.
Congratulating Uttarakhand-based FPO-Jivamrit Organic Farmer Producer Company, Haridwar on their outstanding work at the grass-root level in natural farming the PM asked Jasveer Singh, one of the Directors of the FPO-Jivamrit Organic Farmer Producer Company that why did they choose organic farming? And what types of farming does the FPO carry out, how it is produced, and whether it is certified by credible agencies? What is the strategy for selling the FPO’s organic products? How do they ensure the consumption of bio-fertilizers for their organic farming?
Concluding the meeting, the PM remarked that the government has been putting its best efforts into promoting natural/organic farming for the last seven years. This form of farming reduces the cost of farming; increases their produce, and the fertility of the soil. We get rid of pesticides and their ill effects. The PM also appealed to Jasveer Singh to share his FPO’s experience with the farmers across the country.
Answering PM’s question, Jasveer Singh, Director, FPO-Jivamrit Organic Farmer Producer Company, said, “When we started organic farming, we stopped using chemical fertilizers and started making Jivamrit bio-fertilizer at home and used in fields, and we observed that the fertility of soil had increased significantly.”
Speaking about the process of farming, Singh said, “Sugarcane farming is the predominant cultivation in our area, so we produce organic jaggery, organic jaggery powder, organic khandsari sugar, natural honey, and organic mustard oil. The member farmers of our FPO sell their produce to the processing unit of the FPO. Our FPO has been developed by (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) NABARD and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) – which provide us monetary aid.
And our organic products are also certified by Uttarakhand State Organic Certification Agency (USOCA) and Onecert International.’’ Explaining the selling strategy of the products, he said, “Initially we started with 10 farmers so our products were consumed locally and didn’t get the right price for the products. But after we got registered under Company’s Act – our FPO has a membership of 500 farmers and now we are getting good prices for our organic products.
All the members of our FPO (Farmer Producer Organizations) do cow rearing hence there is an abundance of cow dung, and we train them how to make bio-fertilizers at home and use in their farming.” Speaking on helping the farmers get the right price of their produce, Mukesh Singh, Co-Founder & Director, Jivamrit Agro Organic Foods – an Exclusive Technical & Market Outreach Arm of the FPO-Jivamrit said, “It is very challenging for the farmers to get the right price of their products.
Therefore, to help the farmers get the right/reasonable price of their products, we have created a group wherein about 1,000 farmers have joined its membership and we are heading to enlarge its membership up to 50,000 in the next 2 years. We are striving to help farmers at the grass-root level and getting gradual success in our efforts.”
Deliberating on the bio-fertilizer that Jivamrit produces and uses in organic farming, Vijaypal Singh, Chairman, Jivamrit Organic Farmer Producer Company, Haridwar, Former Indian Air Force employee says “Chemical fertilizers are very harmful to human health as well as the environment because they are made up of chemicals, whereas bio-fertilizers are made up of natural extracts which are environment-friendly.
Our bio-fertilizer has cow dung, cow urine, water, gud and besan to develop the microorganism in soil. It helps increase soil fertility and maintain the carbon cycle in the environment. The company has got certification from USOCA, FSSAI, OneCert for the cultivation and the processing of organic products.”
