A women farmer working for The Himalaya Drug Company

As a farmer, 35-year old Shivakumar earns around Rs. 6,000 every month, enough to educate his daughters. “I hope one of them becomes an agricultural scientist,” says the farmer who plans to purchase a plot.

It is a big dream, but people like Shivakumar have started dreaming big, now that they are free from the clutches of middlemen. These farmers are now engaged in contract farming – cultivating crops and growing herbs in an organic manner for corporates – and are assured of a steady income.

Shivakumar works for The Himalaya Drug Company under its corporate social responsibility programme. More than 1,600 farmers in parts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa are employed as part of the project. “Himalaya has converted the requirement of sourcing herbs into an initiative where small and marginal farmers are brought under the development fold,” said Saket Gore, Business Head, Consumer Products Division, The Himalaya Drug Company.

NGO links

* DHAN The Himalaya Drug Company has entered into a contract farming agreement with DHAN, an NGO working with marginalized communities, for sourcing herbs. The project is operational in Kanakapura and Magadi in Karnataka and Madurai, Tamil Nadu. In Karnataka, herbs such as alfalfa are cultivated and in Madurai the focus is on dry neem leaves, phyllanthus amarus and chebufa. * International Development Enterprise India Himalaya has forged an initiative with International Development Enterprise India, an NGO supplying low-cost irrigation technology to small and marginal farmers in eastern India. Through this partnership, Himalaya procures, its turmeric from the tribes of Kandhamal district of Orissa. * GMCL Gram Mooligai Company Ltd was promoted by a group of NGOs working for the conservation and optimal use of medicinal plants. The company shares are held by the gatherers and cultivators. The project, aims at building sustainable livelihoods for small and marginal farmers.

Firms are willing to invest in contract farming also because it helps improve their product portfolio. Himalaya has widened its offerings by tying up with NGOs such as Gram Mooligai Company Ltd., DHAN and International Development Enterprise India. “As Himalaya directly buys from producer groups, the farmers involved in the project earn about 20-25 per cent more than what they used to do,” said T Dhanabalan, CEO, DHAN. The attempt is to build a network between the farming community, local NGOs and Himalaya.

Last year, it sourced Lucerne, neem and Eclipta alba from DHAN. This year, Lucerne and Tulasi will be sourced from the same place.

Another such venture is the Sami Labs initiative in Salem and its adjoining districts. When the demand for coleus forskohlii – a wild plant that is known in Hindi as ban tulasi and maruntu koorkankizhangu in Tamil – started growing, the company in association with MGP Herbal Care Pvt. Limited, started large-scale cultivation of the herb. This initiative has grown into a co-operative venture with more than 5,000 farmers involved directly and thousands of farm laborers indirectly.

In the last fiscal, Sami Labs invested close to Rs. 10 crore for the cultivation of the herb. This financial year, Sami will expand its coleus cultivation from 9,000 acres to 15,000 – 20,000 acres and will cover regions in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh.

The project has given confidence to farmers with its buy-back agreement. Farmers were given sustained support and provided loans, making the project an instant hit.

These initiatives have made people such as Arumukham happy. The 39-year-old was brimming with joy as he received Rs. 70,000 for his coleus crop cultivated in two acres of land in Salem. The amount helped him repay old loans and remain unexploited by middlemen.