Organic Farmer Consumer Forum, Mangaluru is known as Savayava Krishika Grahaka Balaga, Mangaluru in Kannada language.
Poison-free vegetables, fruits and grains
“Whether they are available? If yes, where?”
-This question was repeatedly coming up in the discussions in our groups of friends, relatives, colleagues and neighbours. Finally, some of us in Mangaluru (Karnataka State, India) decided to take a concrete step forward to start “Poison-free Food Movement” (Visha-mukta Ootada Battalu Aandolana).
That is how Organic Farmer Consumer Forum (OFCF) was established on 4th May 2014 at Mangaluru by a group of 20 like minded people who are concerned about the problems faced by the farmers in carrying on agriculture and the consumers in getting poison-free food. Addoor Krishna Rao was elected as Founder – President of the Fourm.
In the name of OFCF (Savayava Krishika Grahaka Balaga in Kannada), we decided to conduct various activities with the following two objectives:
To provide a platform:-
>To the farmers to sell their poison-free farm produce directly to the consumers
>To the consumers where they can purchase nutritious and poison-free farm produce including vegetables, fruits and food grains.
To achieve the two objectives, OFCF decided to conduct:
(1)Sunday Sales and
(2) Various Awareness Programmes
The details of these programmes conducted by OFCF till now are given below.
1)Sunday Sales of Organic Farm Produce
1(a)When & Where
The first “Sunday Sales” (Bhanuvarada Sante) of poison-free vegetables, fruits and grains was conducted by OFCF on 4th May 2014 at the road-side of Panje Mangesha Rao Road (Opp: Hampankatta Post Office). In the year 2014, the Sunday Sales was organised on the first and third Sundays of each month.
The news about the “Sunday Sales” spread in the city of Mangaluru and the number of people visiting the Sunday Sales increased. Hence, in the year 2015 and 2016, the Sunday Sales were conducted on three Sundays of each month. From February 2017, the Sunday Sales are organised on the first four Sundays of each month. Now the sales are held from 7 am to 12 noon at the same place. We print the dates of Sunday Sales for one calendar year in a pocket-size card and distribute it to the consumers.
1(b)Win-Win Situation for Farmers and Consumers
At the “Sunday Sales” 40 farmers are selling the organically grown and poison-free farm produce and nearly 1,000 consumers are purchasing. It is a win-win situation for both. As the farmers are directly selling to the consumers, the farmers get full value paid by the consumers. If the farmers sell at the regular markets to the agents, they don’t get even 50% of the price they get in our Sunday Sales. Because farmers have to forgo 20% of the sale price as “wastage” and another 20% to 30% as commission (Total 40% to 50%). For the consumers, the advantage is that they get nutritious, tasty and poison-free food items at reasonable price. That is why they don’t miss the Sunday Sales. The list of items of each farmer for sale in the Sunday Sales and their price list is published in the two WhatsApp Groups on the previous day i.e. Saturday.
2)Awareness Programmes organised by OFCF
Our Forum realised that it is necessary to conduct various awareness programmes on a continuous basis to strengthen the “Poison-free Food Movement”. The details of the programmes organised by us till now are given below.
A)Lecture Programmes
We have conducted 20 lecture programmes on the following topics:
Organic cultivation of crops
Poison-in-our-Plate
Traditional Food for Good Health
Simple Food for Healthy Life
Mind Management for Healthy Living
Management of Diabetes
Resource Persons for the Lecture Programmes:
Experienced Physicians like Dr. Raghavendra Udupa, Professor & Head, Dept. of Ayurveda, Alva’s Ayurveda Medical College, Moodabidre and
Dr. Anasuya Bharadwaj, Ayurveda Doctor, Mangaluru
Reputed Organic Farmers like Dr. L. Narayana Reddy, Chikkaballapura and
Edward Rebello, Thakode
Subject Experts like Addoor Krishna Rao, Writer, Columist and Editor of “Savayava Sampada” online monthly journal and
Na. Karanth Peraje, Sub-Editor, “Adike Patrike” Monthly Journal, Puttur, D.K.
B)Study Tours
We regularly conduct Study Tours to the farms of the farmers. The Study Tours provide an opportunity to the consumers to see the crops grown by the farmers and listen to their experience in farming and better understand the problems and pains of agriculture and the value of the food. So far, we have organised 20 Study Tours.
Some of the farms visited by the members of OFCF:
“Soans Farm” of Dr. L.C. Soans at Moodabidre famous for Pine Apple and exotic fruits
“Indraprastha Farm” of A.P. Chandrashekar at Heggadadevana Kote, Mysore known for value addition to various farm produce
Juli and Vivek Karyappa Farm in Heggadadevana Kote, Mysore famous for sustainable agriculture
C)Programmes on Kitchen Gardening & Terrace Farming
Many of our consumers are interested to take up Kitchen Gardening & Terrace Farming to grow their own food. In order to help them to start and continue these activities we regularly conduct lecture-cum-demonstration programmes by the experts. In these programmes, preparation of compost using kitchen-waste, earthworm rearing for composting, grafting etc., are explained and the methods are demonstrated. Pradeep Soori, our member, is practicing these and taking the lead in organising the programmes.
D)Farming in Rural Area by Urban People
Some of our urban consumers expressed their strong desire to take up vegetable cultivation in a rural area. For the ‘Community Vegetable Cultivation Programme”, we selected one-acre plot at Mogaru village (via Gurupura – Kaikamba). With 25 urbanites registering for the novel initiative, it was launched on 15th January 2016. For the next four months, many of the registered members visited the plot once-in-a-week and carried out the work relating to vegetable cultivation. Amaranthus, cucumber, palak, beans, radish and watermelon were grown by them. The produce and the cost of cultivation were shared among the registered members. This unique “Experiential Learning Programme” taught valuable lesson in farming to the urban people who worked in soil for the first time in their life.
After the community vegetable cultivation programme, ten members formed a group and decided to grow paddy in the monsoon of 2016 by following organic cultivation practices. They selected a 40-cents field on the side of Airport Road, 10 Kms away from Mangaluru city. The field was ploughed by power-tiller. All the remaining work was carried out by the group-members. They cultivated Kaje-Jaya variety of paddy and obtained good yield. The members of the group included Ex-Service Man, Charted Accountant, College Professor, Entrepreneur and House-wives. For them, the experimental paddy cultivation provided valuable life experience.
E)Training Programme on Home Remedies (Mane Maddu Tarabeti)
Two such programmes of three-days each were conducted by SFCF. For both the programmes, Dr. T.N. Manjunath, reputed Ayurveda Doctor and Consultant from Mysore was the resource person. About 200 people attended the programmes. The first programme was completely videographed and the CDs were made available to the public.
F)Jack Fruit Festival and Millet Mela
SFCF organised the first Jack Fruit Festival at Balam Bhat Hall, Mangaluru (near Sharavu Maha Ganapathi Temple) in July 2016. Sri Annappa Pai from “Modern Kitchen” (Processed Food manufacturing Unit) Yeyyadi inaugurated. Thousands of people visited the festival and purchased jack fruit and various value-added products of jack fruit. “Jaffee” – caffeine-free nutritious drink of jack fruit seed powder prepared by our member, Maithreyi Shenoy, was special attraction of the festival. Demonstration of “grafting” by Sri Gururaja Balthillaya was arranged as part of the festival to encourage the people to save rare varieties of jack fruit by grafting.
On 11th June 2017, SFCF conducted second jack fruit festival at the same venue. The festival was inaugurated by SriPadre, Executive Editor of “Adike Patrike”, monthly journal, who is spearheading a movement to popularise the use of jack fruit and its products. There were 50 stalls in the festival and throughout the day the hall was jam packed by the visitors. Hundreds of seedlings were also sold by the nursery at the festival.
The third Jack Fruit Festival was organised by OFCF at the same venue on 15th July 2018. In the festival there were 50 stalls selling varioue food items and value-added items of jack fruit and people thronged the stalls. Jack Fruit Growers Sangha from Toobagere in Bengaluru –Rural District sold three tons of famous red-coloured “Rudrakshi” jack fruits in the festival. Ankur Nursery form Ripponpet, Shivamogge district sold about 200 jack fruit seedlings of various varieties. It is estimated that about 8,000 people visited the third jack fruit festival between 7 am and 5 pm.
G)Now-a-days millets are becoming very popular and demand for millets as staple food is increasing. In view of this development, OFCF organised the first “Millet Mela” at Balam Bhat Hall on 25th June 2017. Sri Shridhara Murthy, Gramina Kutumba, Bengaluru inaugurated the Millet Mela. Various food items prepared by the members of Gramina Kutumba (organisation of Millet farmers) were in great demand. Four Millet-farmers were honoured in the Mela. Discussion with the public by Shridhara Murthy about various aspects of millets was the highlight of the Mela. Demonstration of preparation of eatables of millets by Smt. Savitha Bhat, Advai was special attraction of the Mela.
Contact details:
Address: Organic Farmer Consumer Forum (OFCF)
“Suma”, 5th Cross Road, Bejai New Road, Mangaluru 575 004, Karnataka State, India
Email: savayavabalaga@gmail.com