By Jeevan Mathew Kurian, IANS
Kozhikode (Kerala) : It was formed to develop sustainable livelihoods for peasants in the hilly region of Koombara near here. Four years on, farmers’ collective Sugandhini has become a rallying point for around 1,400 families.
Sugandhini works to popularise organic farming, microfinance, farm tourism and non-conventional energy among farmers. And farmers in four village panchayats spread over the Malappuram and Kozhikode districts swear by it.
“We have 77 units spread across four village panchayats. Each unit has 20 members and they meet once a week at the house of one of the members to discuss common issues,” said Mathew Thakidiyel, the patron of Sugandhini, who played a key role in founding the organisation.
“The idea for forming a collective came up as farmers were facing a crisis due to widespread diseases in crops like arecanut and coconut. We started work by asking farmers to practise intercropping.
“Medicinal plants as intercrop in coconut farms was recommended at the first instance. Gradually, the activities were extended to the other fields,” Thakidiyel told IANS.
But Sugandhini’s experiment with medicinal plants did not succeed.
“Although around 300 farmers took to the cultivation of herbs, the returns remained below our expectations and we found it to difficult to execute supply orders,” he added.
However, Sugandhini’s microfinance plan was a great success. At present the 77 units of the cooperative have Rs.15 million ($382,000) as its corpus. The funds are built up from weekly subscriptions at unit meetings.
The units constitute members from similar financial backgrounds. It is the members who decide the quantum of weekly subscription.
“The corpus in some of the units is around Rs.400,000. They provide loans to unit members at a nominal interest rate, which is below one percent. The microfinance scheme swept private moneylenders out of the scene,” Thakidiyel said.
Almost all the members of Sugandhini have benefited from the microfinance scheme, he said.
The farmers’ collective also popularised goat and rabbit farming in the area. Now it is in the process of inviting Meat Products India Ltd, a state-owned meat processing enterprise, to open a meat collection unit at Koombara, some 40 km from here.
Sungandhini also acts as a facilitator for farmers seeking bank loans.
“We assure banks prompt repayment and banks are ready to entertain our members,” Thakidiyel said.
In its latest venture, Sugandhini is helping farmers tap tourism to augment their incomes.
“We are planning to develop farm tourism. We have already identified nine houses for home stay ventures. The District Tourism Promotion Council has come forward to give the necessary training to the house owners,” he said.