Farmers to send its first consignment of vegetables to Europe by October
Indian Express: By October, a farmers’ collective based outside Pune city expects to send its first consignment of exotic vegetables to Europe. “We have received around seven-eight enquiries from clients from UK, Singapore, and Dubai. As of now, they are eager for around seven tonne vegetables, two days each week. The most popular varieties are coloured capsicum, lettuce, red and Chinese cabbage, cherry tomatoe, baby corn and sweet corn,” said Dnyaneshwar Bodke, chief convener, Abhinav Farmers Club, a farmers body set up in 2000.
In 2000, the farmers sold exotic veggies to restaurants in Goa mainly for foreign tourists They used to send 200-250 kg daily.
“As far as export is concerned, our prospective clients can grow these vegetables in their own countries. But they find cost of production in India less,” Bodke said, adding that this was also partly true because they had managed to eliminate a lot of middlemen at the wholesaler and the retailer levels. This helps reduce price for domestic consumers as well, he said.
With precisely this intention —to eliminate agents and middlemen from the supply chain—the club started taking fresh vegetables from farms directly to customers. When they began, they had only 17 farmers. Today, within the 15 -17 km radius of its headquarters at Man village on the outskirts of Hinjewadi, there are around 150 members. Since last year, it has been supplying vegetables directly to housing societies in Pune. “We grow vegetables only on a demand basis to eliminate waste. We tell our clients that supply will begin only two months after they place their orders,” Bodke said. Six years ago, the collective established networks with malls in Mumbai and Pune.
Over the years, 37 similar clubs have come up across the state. It has around 17 packaging units in the state and has a network of around 1,200 farmers in Maharashtra and some other states to meet additional demand.
“If farmers are willing to grow vegetables under our banner, we supply them with seeds so that the quality is maintained,” said Umesh Khandare, a farmer with the collective. “Some enquiries have come for banana as well,” said Anil Kawale, a farmer based in Satara.
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