Sithagiri Organic Collective Farm Producer Company Limited

We operate out of Dr No 1/47, known as the Green House, in Panikondanpatty. It’s near Thodaiyur in the Kulathur area. We are a collective of farmers who decided to go organic together. It’s not always easy. Going organic means you lose some of your crop to pests sometimes, and you have to work twice as hard to keep the soil healthy. We meet up at the Green House to talk about what’s working and what isn’t. It’s a loose group, mostly neighbors and friends. We aren't a big corporation with fancy offices. Our office is usually just someone's porch or a shed. The name Sithagiri comes from the local area we all care about. We handle different kinds of produce, whatever the members are growing. It could be grains or vegetables. The main thing is that we don't use the heavy chemicals. It’s more expensive and takes more time, but we think it's better for the long run. Sometimes we argue about how to do things, but that’s part of being a collective. We’re just trying to make a living without ruining the soil for the next generation. It’s practical, everyday work. Nothing fancy. If you walk around our fields in Kulathur, you’ll see people just doing their best with the rain we get. We just take it one season at a time and see what happens.