This Karnataka co-op has chosen to go local

If you’re visiting Sirsi in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district and want to buy some native products , your local contact may suggest a few items.

Prominent among them will be ‘appe huli’ (a tangy concentrate from tender mango), ‘joni bella’ (liquid jaggery prepared at traditional jaggery-making units), or a kokum ( Garcinia indica ) fruit-based value-added product. And you will likely be directed to a modern retail outlet set up by the Kadamba Marketing Souharda Sahakari Ltd, a co-operative in the town.

The co-operative has been trying to provide markets to crops/products that often do not find a place on the shelves of modern retail stores but are sought after by many consumers. Kadamba, which began its operations in 2005, is now procuring 28 crops, including non-timber minor forest produce, and is marketing around 80 value-added products from them.

Vishweshwara Bhat, Chief Executive Officer of Kadamba Marketing, told BusinessLine that the co-operative came into existence at a time when there was a threat of a ban on arecanut in the country. The founders then went in search of alternative crops and produce available in the district, and held meetings in various villages to provide a market for such alternative crops.

He said that by 2009 the co-operative was procuring most of the produce available in Uttara Kannada district from growers and tribal people. Some of them include soapnut, kokum, honey, amla, bird’s eye chilli, and various spice items.

Procurement methods

According to Bhat, Kadamba’s initiative to procure such produce even in small quantities from growers and the practice of immediate payment has helped growers a lot.

“We are ready to purchase produce from 100 gm to 100 quintals. Growers and tribal people from the middle and lower-middle class give importance to such native crops. Considering the immediate cash requirements of these growers, we pay them immediately. We don’t have any credit system,” he said.

Asked if the co-operative was successful in procuring Uttara Kannada-specific produce, he said: “We get around 30 per cent of all the produce.”

On value-addition, he said Kadamba started value addition with jackfruit in 2008. The ‘jackfruit mela’ (fair) that year was successful in showcasing 250 value-added products from the tropical crop. Following this, the co-operative started selling jackfruit ‘papad’ under its own brand. Till then, no one thought of selling jackfruit ‘papad’ with a brand name, he said.

Kadamba Marketing has also been organising ‘melas’ on different crops, wild fruits and minor forest produce that help create awareness about the particular crop/fruit/produce and its value-added products.

To source value-added products, the co-operative has focused on promoting entrepreneurship among growers. Such entrepreneurs are trained by the co-operative.

Five years ago, the cooperative also imparted training to 120 people on grafting, and created a marketing platform for them through a ‘saplings fair’. “We sell different saplings from June to September, providing a market for the grafted saplings of these people,” he said.

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