Angel investing, the catalyst, which turns an entrepreneur’s idea into reality, is catching up in Madurai, with the city getting its first angel investor, C R Venkatesh, CEO of Dotcom Infoway who recently joined Indian Angel Network (IAN), one of the biggest angel investors’ network in South Asia.
Angel investors invest money – mostly on ownership stake – on workable business ideas and help small-time entrepreneurs scale up their ventures. The Madurai region had hitherto missed the attention of the IAN and this development has raised hopes of many entrepreneurs in the city, particularly in the context of the Union budget stressing on the importance of entrepreneurship and start-ups.
“Ideas are everywhere and many times it is too late for these ideas to be realized into reality, because of lack of funds and I want to help entrepreneurs realize their dreams,” said Venkatesh, who is also the co-founder of Magzter Inc.
“There are at least five people from this region who have shown interest to take up angel investing. There were seminars on angel investing in the city recently which motivated several persons. Soon, more would get involved in it,” said Ashwin R Desai, managing director of A and T Network Systems. There are a lot of business ideas emerging from this part of the region, but only a fraction of them are turning their dreams into reality and the rest do not successfully enter into business mainly due to the absence of financial help, experts say. For instance, two students from Madurai who were among five from across India to be selected by an IT firm based on the potential of their business model could not launch their business due to lack of financial help.
Rajesh Kanna, an M Tech student of Pandian Saraswathi Yadava College of Engineering had developed a website portal called ‘Food Web’. The website was based on the fact that there is a large quantity of food going waste while there are many people going to bed hungry. This food should be used to feed the hungry, particularly children. The concept was selected but the need for funding prevented him from launching the site.
“Soon students like them from southern Tamil Nadu would be benefitted from the angel investors. We are planning to start a localized form of IAN for southern region. The investors would have to invest Rs 5 lakh in two years compared to members of Indian Angel Network, who would invest a minimum of Rs 25 lakh or more each every year,” said R Sivarajah, the founder-director of NativeLead Foundation which nurtures entrepreneurs from southern Tamil Nadu.
“Big Angel funding is usually of around Rs 30 lakh, but most of the young start-ups and ideas of students in this region require smaller amounts ranging from Rs 3 to 20 lakh to take them to the next stage. Efforts are being taken up to bring in a lot of small-scale angel investors who are connected to Madurai in some way,” P Archana, head, programmes and relationships, NativeLead Foundation said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / TNN / August 02nd, 2014
India is emerging as a vaccine manufacturing hub, thanks to the biotechnology solutions, noted Dr Renu Swarup, advisor to the Department of Bio-technology (DBT), Government of India, who is also the managing director of Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) under the DBT.
She was delivering the Kunthala Jayaraman Endowment Lecture as part of the third edition of the Bio Summit at VIT on Thursday. She said, “Successful trials of vaccines for rotavirus, Japanese encephalitis, rabies, dengue, typhoid, malaria, leprosy, anthrax and cholera were underway in collaboration with many national and international agencies.”
She said the goal of the department was to develop 100 billion US dollar industry in biotechnology in the country by the year 2025, to fuel economic development and employment generation. “A dynamic and vibrant biotech industry is one of the main engines of innovation,” she pointed out, adding, “We have the potential and capacity, and what is needed is collaboration to move forward.”
The infrastructure support and research capacity building by the Indian Government had helped the country to be looked upon by other developed countries as a capable partner, to collaborate in the field of biotechnology. The genome initiative undertaken by India had helped in making considerable progress in the sequencing, she added. She said biotech science clusters were being developed at Faridabad, Mohali and Bangalore, to enable integrated growth of science, engineering, agriculture and medicine in a multi-disciplinary environment. Dr Shrikant Anant from the University of Kansas School of Medicine spoke about cancer stem cells. Abhaya Kumar, CEO and MD of Shasun Pharmaceuticals, Chennai, spoke on entrepreneurship, while Dr Ganesh Sambasivam spoke about his company Anthem.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / August 08th, 2014
N. Manikkam at his hand-composing unit at Green and Company Photo: K.V. Srinivasan / The Hindu
Despite all odds C.N. Manikkam and his 82-year-old binding and printing machines hang on stubbornly, refusing to be swept away by modernity
Manikkam sits still in his dimly lit office, gazing at the bustle of Triplicane outside. He has no one for company, except the ancient binding and printing machines he inherited from his grandfather. Together, man and machine seem to be in a trance. Tucked behind a bus stop on Triplicane High Road, Green & Co. is almost invisible to the eye. It’s the rusted name board that attracts the observant passerby. It fights for space with those of the neighbours’, but is determined to announce the shop’s presence. The board just won’t give up; it hasn’t been dusted or painted; no one cares much for it. But it goes on with its job — much like C.N. Manikkam.
“The company was started by my grandfather S. Chengalvaraya in 1932,” says the 55-year-old. A native of Chengalpattu, Chengalvaraya travelled to Burma and Bombay for work and arrived at Madras to set up a company to employ the skills he acquired from his travels. “The chunk of his earnings was obtained from binding school books and bill books, and printing wedding cards and posters,” explains Manikkam. “He rented an office for Rs. 3. The property belongs to the Nawab of Arcot. It was once a stable for royal horses,” he claims.
Chengalvaraya composed every word by hand, as was the technology in his time. “He had 20 people working for him. There were five in each department such as printing, binding, and cutting,” says Manikkam. Chengalvaraya would sit by the wooden table at the entrance, overseeing the work. His son Nagalinga took his place in 1950 — his workforce was cut by half due to falling demand. Today, Manikkam sits at the same table — he is the boss, he is the worker. “Sometimes, my brothers give me a hand,” he says. “My sons are in the IT field. They are not interested in printing,” he adds.
“Technology has advanced. People have moved on,” says Manikkam. Everything in his office, from the rooms where the printing and binding work is done to the high Bombay terrace with teakwood beams, is just as it was during his grandfather’s time. The type cases with their small cabinets and types in varying sizes and alphabets, the Indo-Europa Trading Company’s binding machine from Punjab…they stand in the same positions that they did over 80 years ago.
Manikkam hand-binds books using his grandfather’s method. “Hand-bound books withstand wear and tear,” he says. “We do not use pins. The pages are stitched together by hand.” Such books are known to last for over 50 years, he says. “It depends on how well it is maintained. We have seen hand-bound dictionaries and ledgers outlive men.”
Orders have dwindled and Manikkam leads a lonely life at work. But he refuses to progress to advanced machines. “The technology that I use requires skill. A man has to work for at least 15 years to become an expert at the job. We still have our regular customers who are not comfortable with the current crop of printing units,” he says. But why is he so unrelenting? “I tried,” he sighs. “I tried to learn to use a computer. But my mind won’t cooperate,” he shrugs. “I’m happy doing this. This is what I know; this is what I respect.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Society / by Akila Kannadasan / August 04th, 2014
HTC Global Solutions, a US-based IT and IT-enabled services provider, has set up a `100 crore delivery facility at Vandalur in the city. It is part of the company’s expansion drive to increase its global business in the next few years.
Company’s president and CEO Madhava Reddy told reporters here that the facility was capable of housing 4,500 employees and would support its ITO and BPO growth. “We have invested about `100 crore in this facility so far and are planning to recruit 10,000 more people globally in the next few years,” he said.
The IT giant is also considering acquiring new units.
HTC Global Services provides its clients services ranging from Mobility, ERP, Integration, Big Data Analytics, Infrastructure Services and so on. It currently has more than 6,500 employees in India operations.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / July 30th, 2014
Picture for representational purpose (Photo: PTI/File)
Chennai:
The city based Combat Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (CVRDE) would soon come up with a futuristic battle tank that would trace an incoming missile from the enemy camp and retaliate with its own missile combining passive and active protection systems.
CVRDE director Dr P. Sivakumar on Monday said that their laboratory had embarked on a mission to develop a futuristic battle tank that would come with active protection system to safeguard the tank from Fin Stabilized Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot (FSAPDS) ammunition, the most lethal kinetic energy ammunition, capable of destroying all known tank armour. FSA PDS travels at a speed of over 1,700 metres per second and no country in the world has developed a technology to protect their tanks from such a lethal kinetic weapon.
“Countries like Israel, Russia, Germany and Sweden have technology for ammunition that travels at 1,000 metres per second and we are the first country to work in kinetic energy threats (missiles that travel at over 1,700 metres per second),” Dr Sivakumar said while speaking to DC on the sidelines of an international conference on energy materials at Sathyabama University.
Pointing out that CVR DE had incorporated softkill technology (passive protection technology) in main battle tank Arjun Mark 2, the eminent scientist said that if the enemy fires a missile using an infrared weapon, softkill passive technology in Arjun mark 2 would jam the infrared rays as it had only passive technology.
“Suppose the enemy fires a laser guided missile or a beam rider missile (BRM), etc, in such cases the futuristic battle tank will have laser sensors, which will identify whether it is fired from laser guided machine or BRM. The active protection system would launch grenades, which will generate smoke. By this process, we are going to hide our tank and the tank would also retaliate at the enemy by launching a missile. This way we are combining passive protection system and active protection system in a battle tank,” he said.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / N. Arun Kumar / July 29th, 2014
S Adimoolam, a small-time waste paper trader in Chennai, employs his own family members. Apart from cutting cost, Adimoolam saves by not spending on hiring or on rents as he operates from his own small shop.
Adimoolam is not alone. He is part of a large community which is spreading entrepreneurial movement in the state.
Consequently, Tamil Nadu has emerged top among states having more household-enterprises, says the latest Economic Census released by the National Statistical Association on Wednesday. The state has 48.36% of the establishments within households out of the total establishments in the state. The national average is 38.39%.
“There are many small establishments which work from home or as cottage industries in the state. The jobs for these establishments come from big industrial units which outsource part of their work,” business economist Raman Mahadevan told TOI. These establishments quote a lower price for the job they do and it is a win-win situation for the big industry as well as the household establishment, he said.
Adimoolam for example, mainly deals with waste paper and his wife and other relatives manage the photocopier machine and electronic typing unit. “I am not educated but with whatever I know I manage the waste paper business but my wife and others take care of the copier machines and also sell prepaid mobile cards. The shop is owned by my family and therefore we save on rent and labour by employing ourselves,” said Adimoolam.
In other areas of the state, household establishments take up jobs of making small components for industries.
“For a household establishment, there is no fixed cost in the form of provident fund and other expenditure incurred by companies for employing people on their rolls. Thus a job which normally used to be done in the company itself is being outsourced,” said Mahadevan. The example in rural areas of household establishments is the beedi rolling industry, he said.
Across the country, there are 58.47 million establishments, including those in households. Uttar Pradesh has 67 lakh establishments, followed by Maharashtra with 61.25 lakh and Tamil Nadu comes third with 50.52 lakh establishments. The overall growth rate in number of establishments during the intervening period of 2005 and 2013 is 41.73% and employment grew by 34% during that period.
In terms of employment, Maharasthra has 11.26% (1.43 crore) of the total employment in establishments excluding crops production, plantation, public administration, defence & compulsory social security services activities).
This is followed by UP with 10.77% (1.37 crore) and five states, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat have the combined share of about 46.63% of total employment in establishments at the country level.
There are about 21.93 lakh handicraft/handloom establishments, accounting 3.75% of the total number of establishments in the country.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / B. Sivakumar, TNN / July 31st, 2014
VIT Chancellor G Viswanthan handing over prizes to one of the winning teams, which participated in the ‘Makeathon 2014’ | EXPRESS
Vellore :
The US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and VIT University here have joined hands to set up what they say is the first-of-its-kind incubator facility at VIT, to promote innovations by the student community.
This was disclosed by Dr Kenneth Eugine Paik, director of Sana, a volunteer organisation.
He was here to take part in the ‘Makeathon 2014’ organised jointly by the MIT and VIT on its campus since Saturday last.
Speaking to Express on Monday, Paik said, “This is first-its-kind facility that we would be setting up in India with an emphasis on capacity-building of the students to convert their ideas into business models and later patenting them also. This way we would be channelising the interest of students to the betterment of the community,” he further said. The MIT team would help as patrons and mentors for the students. An MoU would also be signed between the two universities in this regard, he added.
Paik and his colleagues from MIT and University of California have been camping at VIT, to judge the ‘Makeathon 2014’ in which around 450 students had participated.
VIT Vice-Chancellor Dr V Raju said that 34 judges and 47 mentors were involved in the selection of the best prototypes of products developed by the students in 36 hours of non-stop work. A total of 28 teams had worked on healthcare, 18 on automation, 21 on energy and 10 on media science-related products. According to him, the programme was the brainchild of the creation lab that has been set up at VIT to encourage students to find simple solutions to compelling problems affecting society. VIT vice-president Sekar Viswanathan, while handing over prizes to the winning teams at a function held on Monday, said, “We need to encourage students to think freely. The traditional education system did not do this. Universities must promote free thinking by the students and VIT had already taken a lead in this direction.”
VIT Chancellor G Viswanthan, while appreciating the students’ efforts, said VITA had been a trend setter and the Fully Flexible Credit System (FFCS) that was introduced by VIT four years ago was being introduced by IIT- Khargpur this year.
Jay Patravali, a third year student of VIT, who had received an award at the Makeathon for developing software to enable robots communicate was upbeat with his idea. He said this software would have wide application in healthcare sector to help a surgeon to perform a surgery with the help of robots.
Sankalp and his team received an award for developing a low-cost Braille printer using any language.
Omkar and his team had developed a cranking portable mobilephone charger while Junwar and his team were awarded for developing an acupressure pad that could activate particular organs in the body.
The selected teams would also be participating in a ‘hackathon’ that is to be organised by Honeywell next month.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by V NarayanaMurthi / July 30th, 2014
In-house canteens are an integral part of the campus. Photo: M. Karunakaran / The Hindu
From idli-vadai-pongal to vempampoo rasam and filter coffee, Chennai’s canteens have it all
Legend has it that the strike in Binny Mills in 1921 started over food. Led by V. Kalyanasundaram, it lasted six months, but was suppressed when the management tactically split workers into two groups, using canteen hierarchy. But the struggle didn’t go waste: It spawned the first workers’ union and the employee canteen got established on firm ground.
Today, every departmental canteen in Chennai has history added to its menu. “The 250-year-old College of Engineering, Guindy, gave south Indian industry its basic structure, which included the workers’ canteen,” says painter Srinivasan N., analysing the canteen concept. “In manpower-rich manufacturing, subsidised food is seen as a way to keep workers happy. Whether autonomous (IIT, DD, Anna University, Chennai Port Trust), Government-controlled (Ordnance Factory, Ripon building, ONGC, Southern Railway) or private (TAFE, Hyundai, Leyland), in-house canteens are an integral part of the campus. Now, brain-powered IT industries have switched to food courts,” he remarks.
Whether brick and mortar or chrome and steel, canteens here are a no-frills service. You check the prices of the standardized menu on the blackboard, buy coupons and accordingly collect food at the counter. Hot, soft idlis, crispy vadas, and thin dosais along with ‘meals’ are a staple.
Have you been to any of these?
AIR
The canteen opened on December 1, 1974 and shifted to the separate tower block in 1984. The shift at AIR starts at 6 a.m. and at 8 the staff is assembled in the canteen. Newsreaders are the first to choose from idli, puri, dosa or pongal and get their fill of tea or coffee. You can come back for bajji, vadai and bonda till noon, and after that you can go for a lunch thali that consists of rice, sambar, rasam, two vegetables, buttermilk, pickle and appalam for Rs 20. Peckish at 4 p.m.? Try out the kara sevai, butter murukku and the bajji.
While the pathway and the hall need sprucing up, nothing can dim the thrill of being in a place where Chennai’s luminaries broke bondas. “L.K. Advani came here in the 80s and had special coffee,” says Dr. Selva Peter, Deputy Director/Hony. Secretary of the canteen, listing out the celebrity visitors: Kannadasan, T.M. Soundararajan, P.B. Srinivas, L.R. Easwari, Sivaji Ganesan, Ilayaraja, Vairamuthu among others.
During the two years of the Isai Saaral programme, all popular Carnatic and Hindustani singers were treated to snacks, Selva Peter says.
Although the canteen staff number has dwindled, the cooks still serve “guests” from the Police Commissionerate nearby, Bank of India, Santhome branch and the Crime Records Bureau. At the All-India staff training workshop, out-of-state participants wanted to know which hotel the food was from. Not surprisingly, Sankaran, head cook since 1974, was quickly re-appointed when he retired.
Doordarshan
I join Dr. Balaramani, Asst. Director/Hony. Canteen Secretary for a special thali lunch that included bright orange jalebis and sweet mango pieces. “We make sure our guests visit the canteen and we ask them to try a meal. It costs no more than Rs. 44 (lunch is Rs. 25),” he says. Post-recording, artistes, accompanists and theatre assistants head straight to the canteen. “Only the fussiest stars leave without tasting the day’s fare,” he says.
Starting small in 1975, the canteen went departmental in 1980. “Our canteen is exclusively for the 500 plus staff, resource persons, AIR FM transmitter engineers on the premises, home guards and the TN Women Police on guard duty,” Balaramani says. The canteen specialises in dosai varieties, on Tuesdays you get idli-vadai-pongal-upma, Thursdays are for puri-masala and keerai vadai. At 1 p.m. you can choose from the lunch thali and variety rice, at 3 p.m. it is bajji, dosai, tea/coffee and kesari.
The Doordarshan dining hall too has been graced by a galaxy of cinema and theatre artistes. Helpers have served actors Vivek and Nasser, Vairamuthu, Kutti Padmini, Kathadi Ramamurthy, Delhi Ganesh, R.S. Manohar, Nagesh and G.V. Prakash. The canteen is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., five days a week, but was open for 18 hours on election counting day.
“This canteen is more than a mother to us,” says Sethu Madavan, who joined in 1986. “Today, a canteen employee’s children are engineers. We enter the hall with a prayer that the day’s work should go smoothly,” he says.
AGS Office
Annapurani of AGS office, they call their canteen of more than 50 years, in a nod to their women-dominated workforce. Homely food goes to all the offices in the complex, and if you are here, you can’t leave without sipping their coffee. Even though the canteen went from co-operative to departmental, conventional to steam cooking, plantain leaves to plates, the aroma of coffee is a constant, say officials. While vadais are permanent, major breakfast foods are on a weekly rotational basis. Lunch is served in a thali, but if you fancy tiffin, that is available too. One item you don’t want to miss is the rasam say insiders. Also, plan your visit — Monday for pongal and Friday for the famed rice upma-vathakozhambu combo.
Close to 400 officials pile in for breakfast and lunch. For the single, married-with-kids and long-distance commuters, the canteen is a boon – the food is good and the rates are low. Curd rice is rated high, as is the neer-moru. You can also pick from chappathi or mixed rice varieties. Food combos have add-ons like sweets and coffee.
A meal costs Rs. 15, coffee is Rs. 5 per cup. The canteen maintains quality by buying provisions from its co-operative store in the complex. Cleanliness is religion — steam cookers hiss, mechanical scrubbers clean up plates, a machine kneads dough, huge exhausts keep the spot smoke-free and an RO plant provides water.
If the sitting area gleams, the counter looks like it’s from a popular fast-food joint. Everything smells class, and most AGs are patrons.
The canteen prepares and supplies snacks for office functions, higher officials’ visits and farewell treats to save on office budgets. During Deepavali, the kitchen prepares 1.5 MT of mixture and nearly one MT of sweets, so make sure you order the special mixture and boondhi laddu. “The office canteen is an extension of our kitchen,” say employees. For me, its best feature is its proximity to the parking area.
Anna University
As students, parents and guardians gather anxiously at Anna University grounds during admission season, the one place that keeps them smiling all day is the “main” canteen. The food is cheap – Rs. 16 for a full thali and Rs. 4 for coffee, apart from the sweets and ice-cream which are on offer all year round.
While the campus is 250 years old, the canteen has its own history. Generations of students have succumbed to its gastronomical charms.
“My mentor Ravi and I would bunk classes, sit under the aalamaram opposite the CEG canteen and order bread omelette. Whenever I was asked which branch of engineering I was in, I’d say canteen branch,” said Crazy Mohan. Bread omelette was his son’s favourite too, at AU.
“People from the Cancer Institute and Science City take parcels of the healthy, non-spicy food,” said Registrar Dr. Ganesh, reminding me that the canteen bans soft drinks and preservatives. “The pav bhaji is very good here, have it with fresh fruit juice,” recommends Srinivasan.
“Prices are affordable, and the food is prepared with clean, modern kitchen equipment. An RO plant and a bio-waste-disposal system are part of this century-old canteen.”
The herbal food canteen at Chennai Corporation Campus. Photo : A. Muralitharan / The Hindu
Ripon Building
The canteen menu of South Indian delicacies at the Ripon Building were upgraded with a herbal touch in 2012. To ward off seasonal sniffles, it serves nilambu kashayam and sukku coffee; its vepampoo(neem) rasam is guaranteed to cure stomach trouble, thoothuvalai soup should help you breathe easy in cold weather.
In an effort to promote millets, the canteen serves varagu, saamai, thinai and kuthiraivali rice varieties. These can be washed down with herbal tea, herbal soups, juices and ginger buttermilk. The kollu (horsegram) rasam helps reduce weight, so eat away at this historic canteen.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Featurer> MetroPlus / Geeta Padmanabhan / Chennai – July 17th, 2014
Aavin milk plant in Pudukottai. File photo. / The Hindu
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has inaugurated through video conference a dairy plant in Pudukottai.
With the commissioning of the ‘Aavin’ dairy, constructed at a cost of Rs. 2.99 crore, all the 17 District Milk Producers Cooperative Unions in the State now have full-fledged milk processing and storage facilities, an official release said.
The Pudukottai dairy can process 35,000 litres of milk a day.
It would benefit nearly 45,000 milk producers under the cooperative fold in the district. It would also help augment the per capita milk availability in the district.
The Chief Minister also inaugurated refurbished milk dairy at Kaakkalur in Tiruvallur district, completed at a cost of Rs.4.51 crore, and warehousing facilities at a cattle fodder plant in Erode district, the release said.
Modernisation helped the Kaakkalur dairy to enhance its daily processing capacity to one lakh litres, thereby making available more quality milk to consumers of Greater Chennai and Kancheepuram district. The project was partly funded by the Centre.
Dairy Development Minister V. Moorthy and top officials were among those present on the occasion at the Secretariat.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / Special Correspondent / Chennai – July 21st, 2014
When farmers are quite reluctant to encourage their kids to pursue agriculture, who head to cities for new jobs, a group of men have turned farmers, leaving their corporate jobs behind. Yes, you read that right! How many of us would give up high-paying jobs to be the change we want to see? Nallakeerai, a farming initiative, which was started by R Jagannathan, formerly a business manager with a city-based firm, and his friend, in 2011, aims to influence people to switch to organic farming.
Inspired by organic farmers in the State, including popular organic farming scientist who passed away last year G Nammalvar, this experimental cultivational venture has made many farmers in the Melappedu village take up organic farming, besides attracting more takers with their door delivery services of the organic produce.
Currently, Nallakeerai cultivates 30 varieties of spinach and sells 10 lakh bundles within the city per month. “Organic greens have a huge market. Even in half an acre of land, we can cultivate greens. I was able to produce 45 varieties of greens in one cycle,” says Jagannathan.
“The biggest challenge was to create a customer base. That’s where agriculture marketing consultants come in. We use Facebook to promote Nallakeerai and have volunteers who pick them up from certain localities and sell them.
About 15 people have invested on their land for their yearly produce,” he says. What started as a team of two in 2011, has now grown into a group of 30 metropolitan farmers ranging from an IIT graduate, management consultant, software architect, and so on. And they their keerai in a koodai just as easily as they do off the backseat of a car! So it didn’t surprise us when we discovered that theNallakeeraiFacebook page — https://www.facebook.com/NallaKeerai — has a massive 10,000 followers.
Ask Jagannathan why his choice of crop is spinach and he responds, “It requires a very short growth period and gives quicker returns, which eases the transition to organic farming.”
He goes on, people who produce food for the country, go to bed hungry and that’s the plight of today’s farmers. The idea struck me when I conducted a survey in my native, near Thirunindravur. I decided to do something about it and started to study the economy of farmers in my village. I found that the 240 farmer households in the village spent about `40 lakh investing in fertilisers and pesticides.
If this money was properly channelised within the farm, they would lead more comfortable lives.
So what does Nallakeerai do differently? “We help organic farmers by eliminating middle men, and connecting them to a direct consumer base in the city,” explains this farmer-preneur. This is apart from supplying to some of the biggest organic retail stores in the city and also renting out store space within the premises of large companies to sell the veggie.
In order to get youngster interested, Jagannathan conducts weekend workshops on organic farming and eco-friendly lifestyles, assisting a community of Irula farmers to market their produce.
“Organic spinach farms are profitable through weekly door-delivery of organic greens to residences and apartment complexes in the city. We want people to emulate our model,” says Jagannathan, explaining how he spread cow-dung on his planting beds once and harvested three bundles of spinach from tiny one sq ft area. “Today, if I am doing this with spinach, somebody will come up with organic milk and organic potatoes tomorow. If the pricing of organic food is feasible, organic farming can make it big,” he assures us.
Priced at `25 to 30, Nallakeerai’s organic greens are available in T Nagar, Virugambakkam, Vadapalani, Anna Nagar, Adyar, Thiruvanmiyur, Ambattur, Velachery, and Kodambakkam, and can be reached on 99626 11767/9840614128.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by S. Subhakeerthana / July 23rd, 2014
