NELLORE: Vexed with his routine work, Gunapati Bhupesh Reddy has bid adieu to his corporate agency and established Pragathi Yuva Kendram Farmers Producers Company, bringing farmers of Kovur, Vidavaluru, Kodavaluru and Buchireddypalem mandals in Nellore district under one roof.
Initially, the Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) began with 100 farmers, now, over 2,500 farmers became part of this organisation and are cultivating wide varieties of farm products reaping good profits.
Bhupesh Reddy, a native of Leguntapadu village in Kovur mandal has completed his Post Graduation in Business Administration and established the FPO aiming to address the issues in the farmers and create an environment for them to work collectively.
After completion of his education, Bhupesh Reddy noticed that in the absence of an organised marketing system, farmers belonging to Kovur, Vidavaluru, Kodavaluru and Buchireddypalem mandals of Nellore district are not getting remunerative prices for their produce. In addition to that, high cost of inputs in retail and non-availability of credit from banks are increasing the expenditure for the debt-ridden farmers. Putting an end to exploitation by transporters and wholesalers to the farmers, Bhupesh Reddy has formed the FPO to build confidence among them in the region.
The FPO welcomed horticulture officers and KVK scientists to the villages to create awareness on Better cultivation practices. Now, the farmers in the FPO are facilitated with credit linkage, increased demand and bargaining power of farmer’s agriculture produce, reduced cost of transportation, reduced cost of cultivation through sharing of agri implements and common facility of weighing machine.
The 36-year-old PG holder’s father Prasad Reddy was also a farmer and played a key role in forming women self-help groups in the village and was also instrumental in establishing a bank exclusively for SHG’s under Mutually Aided Co operative Society (MACS) in 1998.
Ramani, wife of Bhupesh who worked as Agriculture Technology Manager in Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) also been supporting for the development to FPO.
Further, the FPO has been organizing Night schools to train illiterate adults and unemployed youth to read and write. Mass awareness rallies were also taken up by the members of Pragathi Yuva Kendra, and seminars were conducted, to reach out to more youth for the literacy programme. The FPO has also succeeded in implementation of complete ban on sale and as well consumption of liquor in Leguntapadu village.
The FPO has introduced a pilot project, ‘Kisan Raja’ launched by the NABARD with association of KPLMACTS (Kovur Podupulakshmi Mutual Aided Co-operative Services) for the first time in the country at Veguru village in Nellore district, providing an easy way of operating their farm motors.
NOW, FARMERS CAN OPERATE AGRI PUMPS SANS HASSLES
NABARD had supplied a GSM-based controller device named ‘Kisan Raja’ to 50 odd farmers in Leguntapadu villages and neighbouring villages near Nellore. The device allows farmers to control agriculture pumps using their mobile phone from anywhere at any time, letting the farmers to focus on other productive works. Moreover, with no need for farmers to physically go to their farm and switch-on the motors during the nights, most of the farmers not falling victims to wild animals and snakes nights