From the KA/21 Horticulture engagement led by Gayathri Swahar (Fellow Designate) assisted by Kritika Garg
The engagement focuses on uniform branding of all Farmer Producer Collectives supported by Government of Karnataka and the creation of a plan of action for leveraging the post-harvest ecosystem for building value chains for select horticulture produce. In addition, other activities to drive better performance have also been undertaken.
Engagement Highlights
Uniform Branding
The Fellow led the coordination for a successful launch of the brand contest for the Uniform Branding Initiative, the event was attended by Hon’ble CM Shri Baswaraj Bommai, Shri B C Patil (Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare), and key leaders in the State leadership. An action group has been constituted to own, coordinate, and promote all the activities of creating the Uniform Brand of FPO products in the state of Karnataka. Experts and stakeholders workshop was conducted with participation from all FPO promoting departments, academia, private sector, FPOs, NGOs working etc First comprehensive FPO survey launched and 1st report has been made ready. Working with experts to arrive at the business model for the effective and efficient operation of the brand
Post harvest Focus
Capacity Building
The Fellow has worked on organizing a capacity-building workshop for all the women-led FPOs promoted by the Horticulture department. They have also organised a " Namma spoorthi, Namma Tanda" event to enhance motivation levels across the ranks and build camaraderie among teams. The event saw an enthusiastic participation of close to 300 staff members from the Hulimavu Bio centre, field staff officers from Bangalore Rural-Urban districts, Secretariat office and Directorate - Lalbagh.
Others: A Farm Tech Startup and Innovation Conclave has been planned by the department in November 2022. The idea behind this event is to engage with the farm-tech entrepreneurs and innovators to explore the untapped potential and bring an unprecedented wave of synergies for benefit of the much-needed segment; the farmers.