PALAKKAD: The logo of Farmers Collective, which has a cow and its calf, a goat, duck and hen all silhouetted against the sun (or maybe a golden paddy field?), at once catches one’s eye. It is as innovative as the ideas and approach of the agri-startup based out of Kochi and operating in various locations in the state. It claims to be different.
“We’ve pooled 70 acres of land from 15 farmers at Parappana in Kinassery panchyat of Palakkad. Last year, we did farming on a small scale at Mankurissy as well as on the kole lands of Thrissur and produced around 30 tonnes. We enter into agreements with farmers and provide them with finance to purchase seeds and other inputs,” said Suresh Kunhu Pillai, a Collective director who had quit his job at Infosys.
“We pursue mixed farming and combine paddy cultivation, duck and fish rearing to optimise gains. It’s planned to rear 2,000 ducks here.They’ll be kept in a netted enclosure in the fields itself. The ducklings will feed on insects there and swim between saplings stimulating growth,” said Pillai.
Farmers like Ali Ahmed seem to be happy. “When they approached me saying they won’t use chemical fertilisers and pesticides and provide all bio-fertilisers including cow dung, goat and hen droppings, I was elated. I agreed to follow their directions in my 11 acres of land. The Collective will buy back the paddy from us at `25 per kg (`1.70 more than what Supplyco offers),” said Ahmed.
Farmers Collective, which claims to fuse modern technology with traditional wisdom, said it is possible to give farmers good prices because it follows direct channels to ensure affordable prices and avoids intermediaries in the supply chain.
“Duck rearing has been proved effective along with paddy farming in countries like the Philippines, Japan and France. In due course, we plan ‘controlled’ farm tourism as we have professionals like Jinu Thomas, a Reliance Capital officer in Mumbai, and Shanu Mukkadan, who is based in Dubai, as our directors,” said Pillai.
Adds another director Jaffer Kondotty, “Innovations and value additions do bring in extra revenue. We plan to mechanise operations as far as possible. The rice will be marketed through e-commerce platforms as pesticide-free. It won’t be sold as ‘organic’ as there are doubts among the public about its veracity. We will also invite buyers of our rice brand to visit our farm and see and believe it as ducks can’t be reared in pesticide-sprayed fields”.
Kerala State Agriculture and Mechanisation Mission, Mannuthy, Chief Executive U Jayakumar said, “Duck is considered as a bio-weeder. It consumes weeds’ seeds. Secondly, it’s considered a bio-tiller in slushy water. It uses its beak to mix mud and water, which results in ethylene production, a growth simulator. Thirdly, the droppings are rich in nutrition for the plants. Finally, it eats insects and worms. We should withdraw ducks after 50 days before the ripening stage. At least 300 ducklings can be left to waddle in a one-acre paddy field.”
Pillai added, “The droppings are rich in humic, fulvic and amino acids. Last year, on the kole lands of Thrissur, we harvested 2,200 kg paddy from one acre.”Kerala Agriculture University former registrar P V Balachandran said, “We had successfully experimented mixed farming — paddy cultivation and duck rearing — in the past in Kuttanad and on the kole lands of Thrissur, but individual farmers were reluctant to take it up on a larger scale.”