Tapi Parisar Shetkari Producer Company Limited

Tapi Parisar Shetkari Producer Company Limited is based out of Balwadi village in the Raver area. Our main point of contact is Shri Ramesh Sitaram Patil, and we usually gather at his place. Raver is well known for its bananas, and that’s what most of us spend our lives growing. The Tapi river is nearby, which is where we get our name from. It’s a beautiful area but the work is backbreaking. We are just a collective of local farmers who realized that we could get better deals if we stopped acting like individuals and started acting like a group. We don't have a fancy office with desks or anything like that. We mostly just meet at Ramesh’s house and talk about what’s happening in the fields. Sometimes we talk about the price of banana crates or the latest pests that are bothering the trees. We aren't polished business people. Our hands are usually stained from the plants and our clothes are dusty. We do the best we can with the records and the banking side of things, though it’s not our favorite part of the job. We just want to make sure the families in Balwadi can keep their land and get a fair price for their fruit. It's a simple goal and we work at it every day, regardless of the heat. We just take things as they come and try to support our neighbors.