Vindhyabhumi Farmers Producer Company Limited

Out here in Village Devari, things move a bit slower. We’re in the Bhawarkol area of Mirzapur. Vindhyabhumi Farmers is our group. Choote Lal Maurya is the one who keeps things organized at his place in Uttar Gulalpur. It’s a lot of hilly ground around here, being near the Vindhyas. We deal with whatever the land gives us. Some years it’s plenty, other years we’re just scraping by. We started the company because we were tired of the middlemen taking everything. Now we try to sell together. It’s a lot of meetings in the evening after everyone is done in the fields. We don't have a fancy office. Just a room with some plastic chairs and a fan that squeaks. We talk about the rain, the pests, and who owes what. It’s practical work. We don't have time for big words or polished stories. Most of us have been farming since we were kids. This is all we know. We use simple tools and a lot of manual labor. My nephew helps with the mobile phone stuff when we need to check prices. It’s a community thing, really. We’re all neighbors in Devari and Hardi. We just want to see our families doing okay. It’s a struggle sometimes, especially when the monsoon is late. But we just keep going. That’s the only way. We don't expect things to be easy, we just keep working the ground and hoping for the best every season.