Palanduh FPO: Onions Bring Tears Of Joy To Siddu Pujari

Bengaluru: Palanduh Farmer Producer Company Limited is a Vijayapura district-based Farmer Producer Organization(FPO) that was established in November 2022 with the support of the Department of Horticulture, Government of Karnataka. Siddu Pujari, an Agricultural Engineer by profession, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Palanduh Farmer Producer Company Limited FPO. Palanduh in Sanskrit means Onion.

1008 farmers; 12,000-acre area: The Palanduh Farmer Producer Company Limited FPO operates in a huge area spread in about 12,000 acres while the membership base is as big as 1008 farmers. The FPC also deals with a variety of crops, including Onion, Sorghum, Maize, Lemon, Red Gram and vegetables.

Agreement with ICAR-DOGR: Palanduh Farmer Producer Company Limited FPO, according to its CEO Siddu Pujari, the primary focus is on the development of a value chain for the Onion crop-"We aim to create value-added products like dehydrated onion flakes, powder, and fried onion. For this, we have already signed an agreement with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR)-Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research(DOGR)...

...Enabling producers: Our key activities encompass providing inputs to farmers, procuring agricultural produce from them, and facilitating sales, organizing training and raising awareness about the usage of organic fertilizers. We also establish linkages with banks to facilitate small loans for small farmers and have also identified financial institutions which can provide loans to the FPC and its members".

Multiple challenges galore: "The major customers for the FPC are marketers, and we engage directly with them to fulfil the orders. Irrespective of all possible efforts, multiple challenges hinder our operations, which include the lack of timely credit, non-availability of Common Facility Centers, the impact of market price fluctuations on farmers income mostly leading to heavy losses", laments Siddu Pujari.

Plans to expand the reach: Siddu Pujari unveils his master plan for strategic growth: "In pursuit of growth and sustainability, the FPC has outlined a roadmap. We have planned to establish linkages with super markets aiming to expand our market reach and enhance business operations and potential. In addition, we have plans for product development, investing in advertisement, branding initiatives, and setting a Seed production to crop production apart from having our processing unit. These plans are designed to enhance market access, optimize operations and expand our reach in the agricultural sector".

FPOs are supposed to work on two crops. He explained, "Palanduh Farmer Producer Company Limited is promoted under the Amruth scheme of the Government of Karnataka and also promoted by the Department of Horticulture. FPOs are supposed to work on two crops for value addition to ensure that the benefits reach the farmers. Hence, we chose to work on Palanduh, which means onion. In our Vijayapura district, most of the farmers grow onion, and as per the policy of one crop, one district, lemon is also grown abundantly...

...Lemon processing unit: To start with, we began with the lemon processing unit initially and have more than 10 products with the GI tagged Indi Lemon. All these products have been released in the market for commercial purposes. Apart from onion and lemon, we also have dehydrated products of almost all vegetables".

Invitation from several government agencies: As the Vijayapura-based Palanduh Farmer Producer Company Limited is into marketing, it keeps getting invitations to display its products at the exhibitions organized by the Centre for Excellence, Department of Horticulture, and Water Shed Department, among many others. In all such exhibitions, we are exposed to more potential buyers for all our products.

Promoting and formation of FPOs: As mentioned earlier, Siddu Pujari has an Agricultural academic background as he is an Agricultural Engineer. Thanks to such a background, he has been consistently promoting and aiding in the formation of FPOs through his own NGO. He thought of promoting one NGO with the help of the Department of Horticulture. For being an Agricultural Engineer and having acquaintance with the Food processing units, he was suggested to work on value addition for the crops grown in his region.

From lemon squash to 10 different products: He started with lemon squash and has now reached a position of supplying 10 different lemon-based and value-added products.

Q: How many products do you have now?
Siddu Pujari: Presently, we have around 50 products. We have value-added products sourced from onion, lemon, mango, sapota, papaya, pineapple, and almost all vegetables. For the first time in history, we have also developed instant lemon juice powder. We have all the necessary machinery like spray dryers, panel dryers, cutting matching, and juicing machines, and we have almost all the machinery required for this industry.

Q: How is the response for all your products?
Siddu Pujari: We are in the process of slowly evincing response and are hopeful of doing better in the days to come.

Q: Where do you send your products?
Siddu Pujari: Presently, we are sending all our products to almost all parts of India and are catering to the domestic market. We are also gearing up to the export market but yet to make a headway in this regard. We are hopeful of a surge soon.

Q: What is the learning in the process so far?
Siddu Pujari: Wherever we go, we have to invest a lot in the machinery. We also need to get the end products and do the marketing. Only once we are assured of the market will we go for buying the machinery and establishment of the unit. These days, almost all universities and other institutes have established machinery where we can get our end-products. That's what our learning is.

Q: Based on your experience, what is your advice to other farmers?
Siddu Pujari: My advice to farmers is that the farmers should take their products to the universities where the common facility centres are made available. We can make the end products or make our own brand; join one FPO, and with the FPO brand, they can sell their products.

-Manohar Yadavatti