The Dharwad-headquartered Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Our Food Pvt Ltd, Visakhapatnam, for arranging cost-effective processing units to farmers through the bank loan.

A statement by the bank said on Wednesday that the vendor will ensure supply, delivery and installation of high-quality, standardised and branded equipment / machinery as per the requirement of the farmer / farmer franchisee and also will ensure purchase of processed products.

After executing the MoU on Wednesday, P Gopi Krishna, Chairman of KVGB, emphasised the need for having MoUs with big companies for technology and marketing. He observed that the lack of such agreements will create problems for marketing agricultural produces. Through the bank loan Our Food Pvt Ltd not only assists in setting up processing units, but also procures the processed materials and sells them to bulk buyers, he said, and stressed the need for involving women self-help groups in food processing and marketing.

Speaking on the occasion, Bala Reddy, Managing Director of Our Food Pvt Ltd, said that the company, in association with the bank, motivates the unemployed, educated youth with an entrepreneurial mindset in rural areas to establish processing units as per the local requirements.

The company purchases the processed product from them and sell the same through its tech platforms. By doing so, the farmer-partners get between 20 per cent and 25 per cent more than the market rate, he said.

Stating that the company, in association with KVGB, is deepening its roots in northern Karnataka, he said: “Our goal is no raw produce should be sold by the farmers. They must instead process their produce and sell it to fetch better prices.”

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