Farm Visit to Pudukkottai on 20th January 2024 - Karthik R
Pudukkottai Organic Farmers Producer Company is one of our Primary Sources of Rices, Millets, Dals & so on.
From 2014, POFPC is primarily to conserve indigenous paddy and millet varieties in rain fed lands using organic methods and improve the living conditions of landless agricultural laborers and small and marginal farmers through processing and value additions to agricultural produce. Currently it has 1028 farmers as shareholders.
This was a revisit to make our association stronger by understanding their work at the current scenario.
Mr.Aadhappan of ROSE picked us (Karthikeyan & Karthik) up from the hotel. We first visited their office, got introduced to everyone there. They have a store setup to sell their produce directly. And then he took us on a tour to the nearby organic farms that are part of POFPC. We got a chance to spend some time with a few farmers and in their farms – majorly paddy fields with Mappilai Samba, Thooyamalli, Kavuni, Karunguruvai & millets.
We also got a chance to witness and participate in a harvest of Thangasamba paddy.
Mill
Then we went to their mill which is a huge setup. It consists of massive storage spaces, milling machines, paddy boilers, dryers, vertical conveyors etc.,
They explained all the technologies, also discussed the necessity & advantages of having such a huge mill setup in Organic field and the practical difficulties of such a setup.
Then finally returned to their office, where they had 30+ farmers from Tiruvannamalai district who had come to understand & learn from them. This was an educational field visit organized by NABARD.
Mr.Aadhappan was kind enough to invite SK to share his views on the demand and supply chain in the organic industry.
At the end of the day, we also got a chance to understand Mr. Aadhappan’s journey with ROSE in a gist and his experience in working with Dr. Nammalvar.
Overall, it was a very interesting and insightful farm visit. We are very happy to have associated with POFPC.