Kelgaon Farmer Producer Company Limited

This company is based out of Ratna Somanath Kolhe’s spot in Kelgaon, over in the Sillod area. It’s a bit different from the bigger outfits because we focus strictly on the farmers right here in our immediate circle. Sillod has its own rhythm, and we try to stick to it. The office is just a small space tucked away, filled with ledgers and the smell of dried grain. We spend our days coordinating with the local men and women who are out in the fields. It’s not about being a big business for us; it’s about making sure the people in Kelgaon have a way to sell what they grow without getting cheated. We often sit outside when the weather is nice to discuss the upcoming season. There are always people coming and going, asking questions about fertilizers or when the next meeting is. We don’t have a website or anything like that, just our word and the work we do with our hands. The furniture is basic, mostly just some plastic chairs and a heavy wooden table where we sign all the papers. It gets dusty, and the phone rings more than I’d like, but it’s how we keep the community together. We just want to make sure the farming life here stays viable for the next generation of kids in the village. It is hard work, but we are used to it and we just keep going.