A visit to Thangavelu’s farm in Irugur where he grows varieties of organic greens was a stimulating experience, says Rajkumar. M of Kaatu Unavu, a shop that sells organic grains, fruits and vegetables. “I also visited Pon Muthu iyya’s vegetable farm located on Palladam-Dharapuram Road. He grows tomato, ladies finger, and brinjal. I got contacts of several other farmers whom I met at Subhash Palekar’s workshop on ‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’.”
It was the three-day workshop which he attended at Madurai that set Rajkumar thinking. “Palekar’s vision focusses on building the rural economy, where the farmers are self sufficient in raw materials and also in marketing their produce,” he explains. As he comes from a farming background, he wanted to start farming based on Palekar’s concept at his father’s farm in Namakkal. “But, since they didn’t show any interest, I helped other farmers with marketing. It was painful to see the farmers suffer. Especially the ones who made the switch to organic,” says Rajkumar. That’s how Kaatu Unavu came about. Initially, they set up stalls near apartments and in places like parks where the public congregate. “ We tried this model in Salem, Coimbatore and Namakkal. And the response was good,” he says. One of the main objectives he took on was to educate farmers on marketing.
Rajkumar is largely influenced by the Nammalvar method of organic farming. “ A farmer’s produce has to first cater to people in the neighbourhood where he farms. This way, he can cut down on transport, and manpower. For example, Gudivada Nagaratnam Naidu, a farmer in Tirupati, created a revolution with his success story. Even today, its the market that goes to his farm to buy the goodies.”
Rajkumar learnt more at another eight -day workshop by Palekar at Palladam, and established contacts with farmers. “Farmers also have to adapt to corporatisation and urbanisation,” insists Rajkumar who currently sources vegetables from about 20 farmers in and around Coimbatore. Pricing, he says, is still a problem as organic products cost 10 per cent more. “ Bringing transparency is the only way out. We take our customers to farms where we source the greens and vegetables. We also share numbers of farmers with them. This way, the customers are happy, the organic market flourishes and the farmers get their returns too. We are building the bridge now. Once, the farmers understand the dynamics of marketing, I would like to return to active farming. As, that is the only way to increase production and offer organic produce at a lesser price.”
At the store
The Kaatu Unavu shop is located at No. 1041 ( opp. ESI Hospital), Sarkkarai Chettiyar Nagar, Singanallur
The store regularly receives 15 to 20 varieties of fresh greens grown in and around the city
It also has other organic vegetables besides rice, millets, cold pressed oils and honey
Call: 96986-44422/ 97509-30196
They also do door delivery within a three-km radius.