30 December 2022, New Delhi: Chilli crop from the Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh was successfully exported to Europe last week by an FPO named Terra Glebe.
Terra Glebe is a Farmer Producer Organization (FPO) from Village Dalki of Khargone district. The farmer group wanted to export chillies to foreign countries for the last few years.
Balkrishna Patidar, a farmer, and founder of Terra Glebe FPO told Krishak Jagat, “This group was formed three years ago and had envisioned from the very beginning that their chillies should be exported abroad, so this is a big day for their success. A total of 55 quintals (5.50 tonnes) of chillies from 8 farmers of Dalki have been exported to Europe from Mumbai Port.”
Produced without using banned chemicals
The founder of the group Mr. Patidar shared that it was not that easy to export to Europe. The group first studied why Khargone chillies are not being exported abroad despite being popular. One reason for this is the use of chemicals banned abroad. The farmers of Khargone were using these chemicals in large quantities.
We separated such chemicals and planned to cultivate Chilli on 500 acres with 62 farmers using integrated pest management (IPM) technology.
After the harvesting, 10 samples of 62 farmers were sent for testing to Aviti Lab in Kerala, from which 8 samples passed.
The samples which passed the test were found to be free from chemicals banned in European countries such as Profenofos, Triazofos, Chlorpyrifos, Monocrotophos, etc. These chemicals are banned in European countries including the United States. Due to their excessive quantity in the chillies of the Khargone district, they could not be exported.
The group is helping farmers with technology and market access
Terra Glebe group is providing facilities to the farmers from soil testing to seeds as well as technology to be used in their respective crops and to make them available to the market and traders to get good prices.
The group is also providing farmers with agricultural equipment on rent. Along with this, the group has also provided drones to the farmers for spraying pesticides. Some farmers are also preparing seeds of crops like Arhar, Onion, and Moong through the group.
