Rural Voice NACOF Awards 2022

Union Minister of State (MoS) for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan and IFFCO Managing Director Dr US Awasthi presented the Rural Voice NACOF Awards 2022 at the Rural Voice Agriculture Conclave in New Delhi on December 23. The awardees were Jaivir Singh, Northern Farmers Mega FPO, Silage Utpadan evam Vipanan Sahkari Sangh Ltd, Uttarakhand, and Arya.ag.

Ram Iqbal Singh, Founder Chairman of the National Federation of Farmers’ Procurement, Processing and Retailing Cooperatives of India Ltd (NACOF),  was also present on the occasion.

Jaivir Singh and his intercropping system

Jaivir Singh, a farmer from Bulandshahr, received the award in the field of farming practices. He is known for his adoption of the intercropping system.

Singh holds a Master’s degree and has been farming for about two decades. He found through his farming experience that the current agriculture system was leading to a loss in soil fertility along with that in crop yields. He has adopted the intercropping system along with the main crop of sugarcane and produced crops like potato, onion, linseed, cabbage, pulses and oilseeds.

The agriculture system Singh has adopted has increased soil fertility along with foodgrain production and reduced nearly by half the costs of seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides and the consumption of water. His innovative experiments are also protecting human health and the environment.

While receiving the award, he was accompanied by his wife Mamtesh Kumari, who has been his pillar of support throughout his journey.

Northern Farmers Mega FPO

 Puneet Singh Thind, Director, Northern Farmers Mega FPO (NFMF), received the award for his organization in the field of FPOs. 

NFMF is a federation of farmer producer organizations (FPOs) from North Indian states covering Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Established in February 2020, NFMF has 43 member FPOs presently, covering nearly 12,000 farmers.  The main activities of NFMF are agri input aggregation, quality assurance, market linkage, industry engagement, backend infrastructure creation, contract farming, etc. NFMF is working on major crop value chains of North Indian crops such as potato, tomato, onion, kinnow, basmati, high-value wheat, carrot, etc.

Silage Utpadan evam Vipannan Sehkari Sangh Limited, Uttarakhand

The award for Silage Utpadan evam Vipanan Sahkari Sangh Limited was received by Anand Amritraj Dutt Shukla, its Managing Director. 

Silage Utpadan evam Vipannan Sehkari Sangh Limited, Uttarakhand, has mobilized 1363 farmers from five PACS in Dehradun and Haridwar. It has launched collective cooperative farming in the cluster villages of Jhajra, Nathuwala Palio, Vikasnagar, Herbertpur, Sahaspur, Chauli, Banjarawala and Khelpur. More than 15,000 MT Baled Silage has been produced since the inception of the project. It has an area of 2540 acres under Green Maize cultivation. It has lent a total financial support of 455 lakhs to farmers.

Arya.ag

Prasanna Rao, CEO and Co-Founder, Arya.ag, received the award for his organization in the field of Agri Start-ups.

Arya.ag, India’s largest grain commerce platform, connects sellers and buyers of agri produce, providing complete assurance on quantity, quality and payments. The platform eliminates distress sales of farmers’ produce by enabling farmgate storage and seamless finance options, offering farmers the freedom of when and to whom to sell. With visibility into over 10,000 commodity storage points across the country, Arya assures year-round supply to SME and corporate buyers with embedded financing options. Arya’s clients include farmers, FPOs, financial institutions, SME agri processors, commodity traders and corporate agribusinesses.

The founders of Arya — Chattanathan Devarajan, Prasanna Rao and Anand Chandra — have decades of experience in agri-business and agri-finance. Under their leadership, Arya has worked towards the creation of trust, efficient networks, and enduring value for players across the value chain including small-holder farmers, FPOs, small aggregators and agribusiness corporations.