Farmers Trade Market (FTM) is a novel initiative recently launched by the Brahmagiri Development Society (BDS) to tap the electronic online market for processed agricultural food products, enabling the end consumers to access the value added products sitting at the comforts of their home.
FTM is a connecting link between the farm and home
Popularly known as Brahmagiri, BDS is a Socio- Co-operative movement based in Wayanad district of Kerala. With its two decade experience in catering the agrarian community in various ways, the society is affiliated to the Dairy department of the state government. Brahmagiri was formed through a special order by the late EK Nayanar headed ministry in 1999 in order to serve the farming community in all possible ways.
Brahamgiri FTM is unique as it aims at sourcing the farm products straight from farmers without any intermediaries, selling them after value addition direct to consumers utilizing the hi-tech online platform and sharing the surplus with the primary producers. Being supported by crop-based farmers’ collectives, this agrarian online marketing initiative is called the farmers’ own market.
The Brahmagiri FTM is the first E-Commerce initiative in the country floated by the state government with farmers at the helm. Giving a booster to the project, the state government has recently decided to include FTM in the Subhiksha Keralam project of the state government.
Subhiksha Keralam was introduced in order to improve the food basket through massive farming of vegetables, tubers and millets, foreseeing a shortage of foodstuff in the wake of Corona-19 pandemic threat. The state has also green-signaled the move to avail necessary funds for FTM from Rebuild Kerala Initiative (RKI), Subhiksha Keralam, Agriculture infrastructure Fund of the central government, NABARD (National Bank for Rural Development) and Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).
Launched on trial on August 30, on the eve of Onam celebration in Wayanad district, the project would be extended to the entire Malabar region covering five more districts in the second phase and then across the state by March 2021.
Various government departments including agriculture, animal husbandry, dairy, fisheries, civil supplies, co-operation, local administration, tribal welfare and women’s welfare are associating with FTM to ensure its effective implementation. Elaborate arrangements were in place for the successful implementation of the pilot project including Consumer App, Outlet App, Delivery App along with the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software.
‘Co-operative farming’ to take on ‘Corporate farming’
At a time the state government is on with varied projects to increase the agriculture production with initiatives like Subhiksha Keralam, it is more important to ensure market support with just price for farmers. It is in this context, the launch of FTM is politically more significant as FTM is expected to liberate farmers from the all-pervasive clutches of capitalist market forces and their middlemen. Moreover, FTM also caters the end consumers with door delivery of quality food stuff at affordable price through sophisticated consumer application.
It is to be recalled that the first model for modern Co-operative farming providing the best price to poultry farmers of the state was initiated by the State government through Brahmagiri in the poultry sector launching the Kerala Chicken project, saving farmers from the exploitation of private players. When the private companies had given farmers up to Rs 6 for live weight, farmers affiliated to Kerala Chicken project received up to Rs 11. This is happening while the established E-commerce players like Flipkart and Amazon has been operating as the market space of multinationals. The capitalist forces are amassing excessive profit utilizing latest technology for trade of agro-food products. Unlike these capitalist forces, FTM would be safeguarding the interests of farmers and farm labourers. FTM would ensure digitization of farm lands of each member farmer by implementing precise farm planning with software enabled technology. Through the project the land of farmers would be registered and the collected data would be analyzed. In order to increase productivity as well as to bring down production cost the fertility of land, water resources, seeds, manure, agricultural tools, expertise of labourers and all other production elements would be improved with software enabled system.
The project also envisages insurance and compensation for farmers for the Crop loss due to diseases, natural disasters and wildlife attacks. The farm products would be transported after conducting the primary value addition. The value added farm products would be stocked in the pack houses and warehouses set up by zonal farmers groups. The support of various Co-operative agencies like VFCK (Vegetables and Fruits Promotion Council, Keralam) , HORTICORP, Market Fed, Consumer Fed, the procurement, processing and marketing network of Civil Supplies department, Department of Dairy and Food Corporation of India would be roped in to expand the market.
FTM envisages partnering with crop based farmers’ collectives for effective implementation of the process. The project envisages eliminating the middlemen by ensuring the active participation of farmers in the entire ‘seed to market’ phases including procurement, processing and marketing. The surplus from the sale of agricultural products without middlemen would be returned to farmers as additional price and as additional wages to farm labourers. Once FTM is out of its teething trouble all consumer goods and food products would be made available as home delivery through the FTM retail outlets network.
Second phase of land reforms
The modern Co-operative farming unfolding through Subhiksha Keralam- FTM projects is ringing the second phase of reforms after the Kerala Land Reforms Act in the agricultural sector. The project aims at bringing the agro-industries and food production under the collective ownership of farmers and farm labourers. With this second round of agrarian reforms, small and medium farmers would turn into agri-entrepreneurs and the ordinary farm labourers would metamorphose into modern farm employees. The move is expected to bring in financial improvement to as many as 27 lakh farming families of the state.
BDS is planning to establish Farmers Trade Market – E-marketing facility to source raw materials for primary and secondary processing, value addition and to market the finished products. The range of products procured from the farmers would include livestock such us buffaloes, goat, chicken, and duck for further processing and of local produce such as paddy, tea, coffee, vegetables, fruits, egg, coconut oil, spices, fish etc.