A 24-year-old sugarcane farmer’s son in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, recently convinced 47 fellow young growers to pool their harvest data on a shared WhatsApp dashboard before selling to a single buyer — and collectively negotiated a price 18% higher than the local mandi rate. He had never heard the word “cooperative” used to describe what he … Read more
In Adilabad district, a cotton farmer named Ramulu sold his entire kharif harvest last season without once stepping inside the local APMC mandi. He earned approximately ₹7,800 per quintal — nearly ₹1,200 more than what the regulated market yard was offering after commissions and deductions. Ramulu is not an outlier. He is part of a … Read more
The problem is not that schemes don’t exist — it’s that most farmers never fully understand how to access them. In 2026, multiple government-backed loan options allow eligible farmers to borrow up to ₹10 lakh, yet lakhs of applications get rejected every year simply due to paperwork errors or wrong bank approach. I want to … Read more
In a small drying yard in Laskein block, West Jaintia Hills, I watched a woman named Rikynti Suchiang spread freshly boiled turmeric rhizomes across bamboo mats, the late-March sun turning each finger-shaped piece into something almost golden enough to be currency. She told me her cooperative had shipped 3.2 tonnes of organic Lakadong turmeric to … Read more
