Maaulikrupa Farmers Producer Company Limited

Maaulikrupa Farmers Producer Company Limited is really just a group of us who live and work around Sawargaon in the Partur area. We usually meet up at Shri Parbhakar Ashroba’s place. It’s a quiet village and most of us have been farming here since we were kids. This whole idea of a producer company came about because we were tired of being at the mercy of the market every single season. We figured if we pooled our crops together, we might have a better chance of getting a fair price. It’s not like we have a big office with secretaries and computers; it’s more about sitting on a porch and looking at receipts and harvest schedules. We talk about things like seed quality and how much the diesel for the tractors is costing us these days. It’s a tough life but there’s a sense of community in it that you don’t find everywhere. We try to help the younger guys who are just starting out with their own patches of land too. It’s all very informal and we keep it that way because we’re more comfortable with a handshake than a long contract. We’re just local people trying to make the farm work for us and our families, and this company is the tool we’re using to try and make that happen. There is always something that needs fixing on the farm.