Meet three Karnataka farmers retailing farm-fresh value-added products

The Hindu brings you stories of farmers in Karnataka who produce fresh value-added products in small batches and retail them directly to the customer. Think cold pressed oils, coconut chips, ghee, coffee, and more farm-rich goodness.

Madhu Kargund @ Tengin

Born and raised in a small village called Kargunda in Karnataka’s Hassan district, Madhu Kargund spent most of his childhood on farms. “My father is a farmer, and I vividly remember my weekends and summer vacations spent on farms picking coconuts or working other menial tasks,” says Madhu, who went on to pursue a career in IT and worked as a software engineer for eight years. “I was still connected to my roots and learned about zero-budget natural farming from agriculturalist Subash Palekar. Fascinated with the multi-crop model, I decided to implement it in my village where several farmers had migrated to the city due to the lack of a sustainable income in agriculture.”

And thus, Tengin was born. Coconut was their first choice given its abundance in the region, and Madhu connected with small collectives in the villages to help convert their coconuts into cash flow. After sharing product samples with friends and participating in farmers’ markets, Madhu now has a steady clientele to whom he retails cold-pressed virgin coconut oil, chips, coconut sugar and jaggery, as well as bowls, containers, coffee mugs and soap dishes crafted with coconut shells. 

Madhu says he has witnessed an increased interest in farm-made products, especially post-lockdown. “Being transparent in how our products are made also helped. Initially, it was challenging to make people understand what virgin coconut oil is and how it differs from normal cold-pressed coconut oil. We have put in a lot of effort to curate new products and teach our women’s collectives. Without funding, large-scale marketing is tough. We have put up stalls across apartments to share our story,” adds Madhu who is now formulating new products with coconut, chocolate and millets, apart from gift hampers. 

For details, Whatsapp +91 9740330316 and tengin_coconut_oil on Instagram. 

Siva Sankar @Magadha Vana

Nestled in the foothills of the Western Ghats (approximately 35 km from Udupi town) and adjoining the Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary, is this 6.5-acre biodiversity farm. Magadha (pepper in Sanskrit) Vana (forest) came into existence in May 2018, “guided by a vision to create an environment-friendly, self-sustaining food forest experience”, says founder Siva Sankar. Over time, the farm progressed into nurturing coconut, pepper, cashews, cocoa, plantain, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, lime, and turmeric as major crops, apart from areca nut, the main cash crop of this region. “Fruit-bearing trees such as guava, wax apple, rose apple, jackfruit, and mangoes of different varieties were already growing plentifully here, and we added tropical varieties like rambutan, mangosteen, avocado, banana and star fruit among others.”