Three Karnataka farmers retailing farm-fresh value-added merchandise

Madhu Kargund @ Tengin

Born and raised in a small village known as Kargunda in Karnataka’s Hassan district, Madhu Kargund spent most of his childhood on farms. “My father is a farmer, and I vividly keep in mind my weekends and summer time holidays spent on farms selecting coconuts or working different menial duties,” says Madhu, who went on to pursue a profession in IT and labored as a software program engineer for eight years. “I used to be nonetheless linked to my roots and realized about zero-budget pure farming from agriculturalist Subash Palekar. Fascinated with the multi-crop mannequin, I made a decision to implement it in my village the place a number of farmers had migrated to the town because of the lack of a sustainable earnings in agriculture.”

And thus, Tengin was born. Coconut was their first alternative given its abundance within the area, and Madhu linked with small collectives within the villages to assist convert their coconuts into money circulation. After sharing product samples with associates and taking part in farmers’ markets, Madhu now has a gentle clientele to whom he retails cold-pressed virgin coconut oil, chips, coconut sugar and jaggery, in addition to bowls, containers, espresso mugs and cleaning soap dishes crafted with coconut shells. 

Madhu says he has witnessed an elevated curiosity in farm-made merchandise, particularly post-lockdown. “Being clear in how our merchandise are made additionally helped. Initially, it was difficult to make folks perceive what virgin coconut oil is and the way it differs from regular cold-pressed coconut oil. We’ve put in plenty of effort to curate new merchandise and educate our girls’s collectives. With out funding, large-scale advertising is hard. We’ve put up stalls throughout residences to share our story,” provides Madhu who’s now formulating new merchandise with coconut, chocolate and millets, aside from present hampers. 

For particulars, Whatsapp +91 9740330316 and tengin_coconut_oil on Instagram. 

Siva Sankar @Magadha Vana

Nestled within the foothills of the Western Ghats (roughly 35 km from Udupi city) and adjoining the Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary, is that this 6.5-acre biodiversity farm. Magadha (pepper in Sanskrit) Vana (forest) got here into existence in Might 2018, “guided by a imaginative and prescient to create an environment-friendly, self-sustaining meals forest expertise”, says founder Siva Sankar. Over time, the farm progressed into nurturing coconut, pepper, cashews, cocoa, plantain, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, lime, and turmeric as main crops, aside from areca nut, the principle money crop of this area. “Fruit-bearing bushes comparable to guava, wax apple, rose apple, jackfruit, and mangoes of various varieties had been already rising plentifully right here, and we added tropical varieties like rambutan, mangosteen, avocado, banana and star fruit amongst others.” 

Because the workforce added to the range of crops, Siva realised it was vital to transform the produce into ready-to-use merchandise. “It was a pure development,” he says of his catalogue that features coconut oil, moringa powder, roasted cacao nibs, dried kokum rinds, dried monkey jack, turmeric powder, turmeric latte combine, inexperienced pepper protect, white pepper, black pepper, exfoliating physique scrubs, banana gummies (sundried ripened bananas), chewy jack (dehydrated ripened jackfruit), uncooked jack flour, uncooked banana flour, forest honey, black turmeric powder, preserved breadfruit, and a ready-to-pickle base.

Cultivating native greens as per seasonal cycles turned a necessity for tailoring a farm-to-table meals expertise for visitors, says Siva, who additionally runs a farmstay. Unique and uncommon spices, medicinal tubers and herbs are cultivated right here in small portions. “Growing an acre of agroforestry with 500+ teak, mahogany and purple sanders was a acutely aware effort in the direction of avoiding dependency on restricted water sources. Together with this, a number of sorts of bamboo had been additionally planted alongside the boundaries.” 

Siva believes right now’s shopper is inquisitive about the place their meals is coming from, and the way it’s being processed and packed. “It isn’t simply the social media savvy patrons, however basically, folks wish to know their farmer and are captivated with procuring farm contemporary produce straight,” he says. 

For particulars, Whatsapp 6366977723, @magadha_vana on Instagram. 

Sangita Sharma @Annadana

This agro-ecology data hub in Bengaluru is residence to a two-acre chemical-free meals forest comprising over 8,000 plant species and a seed hub (that conserves as many as 1000 heirloom seed varieties). Founder Sangita Sharma says their “self-sufficient farms” assist the livelihoods of native communities, and produce “a wealthy variety of heirloom greens, fruits, spices, herbs, cereals and grains in addition to chilly pressed oils.” Not too long ago, espresso and cocoa had been added to this listing. “Now one thing as little as rock salt is outsourced!” she says, including {that a} mini dairy not solely powers their group kitchen with biogas, however churns out cottage cheese, desserts, biscuits, conserves, jams, ketchup, butter and ghee.

Elaborating on the value-added merchandise they retail to long-standing clients, she says chilly pressed oils, natural star gooseberry elixir (a pure wine in 5 distinct herb flavours), spices comparable to turmeric, chilly powder, peppercorn, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom comprise their fast-moving merchandise. There are additionally indigenous rice varieties, rice and wheat flour, legumes, corn, millet, and oilseeds on their listing.

Near 60% of the perishables (greens/fruits/herbs) get bought out, says Sangita. Muffins, bread, and dairy merchandise comparable to rosemary butter, whey, and cottage cheese infused with herbs are by order solely. “10% of the farm produce is shared inside our group, and the steadiness 30% is left for seed for ongoing meals safety programmes,” she explains.

Within the pipeline is a web based portal ‘Meals that Heal’ (FTH) that “goals to supply a holistic understanding of the place our meals comes from, what has gone improper, and the way we are able to reverse our present meals buying habits with easy knowledgeable measures”. “FTH will present a various vary of therapeutic companies like ‘know your meals mixtures, what meals to keep away from throughout an sickness, meals that heal to construct immunities, the appropriate approach to eat grains, cooking demos, and extra,” concludes Sangita.

To order, Whatsapp +91 9035724711, +91 8088347413