The Hindu : Front Page : Godowns a boon to Thalavady villagers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 06, 2007
ePaper

Front Page

Front Page

Godowns a boon to Thalavady villagers

Karthik Madhavan

Positive effect: Community-managed rural godowns have helped villagers in Thalavady overcome poverty.

THALAVADY: Farmer L. Sivakumar of Bedarpalayam hamlet is happier than before. He is no longer at the mercy of moneylenders or traders who took advantage of his coming from a hilly terrain. His problem then was that to sell his produce, maize, he was forced to take it to either P. Puliyampatty or Gobichettipalayam, the 80-km transportation to which, was the first hurdle. In the words of the farmer, “A lorry of 100 bags, each weighing 100 kg, cost about Rs. 4,000, which, along with loading and unloading charges and godown rent, took the expenses to around Rs. 6,000, which was costly.”

If that were not enough, Mr. Sivakumar faced an additional problem – that of finding good price. And, often he did not. A study conducted by the Mysore Rural Development Agency (MYRADA), an NGO working in the hills, says, “Middlemen duped the farmers using faulty measurements and took away the entire produce of farmers, which on many occasions was more than what the farmer had to repay.” The vicious cycle of trader-induced debt and poverty continued till February 2003, when the NGO, after requests from the villagers, built rural godowns through participatory approach.

According to P. Alagesan, project officer, MYRADA, “villagers from Bedarpalayam and neighbouring K.B. Malam approached us with a proposal to construct rural godowns, based on which we contributed Rs. 2.03 lakh and the villagers Rs. 70,000 for a godown, and in this fashion the villagers and we built four godowns.” The four community-managed godowns have helped farmers overcome poverty and get good price. Farmers like him who store maize in the godowns now avail of loans against the produce. The other positive fallout of the godown, Mr. Alagesan says, is that since a number of farmers store at a place, buyers come asking.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page