Farmer goes organic, reaps riches online

In these times of increasing pollution and use of chemicals and fertilizers vitiating what we eat, there is a perceptible growing public preference for natural and organic fruits and vegetables. Tapping this opportunity quite early, a farmer is reaping rich dividends by reaching out to society at large through his online platform for organic veggies.

Growing veggies organically in his field coupled with technical support from his qualified son to sell the produce online earned Kerelli Malreddy, a 55-year-old farmer, the 'Best Organic Farmer Award' in Vikarabad district. The produce is being sold to clients in the city and surrounding areas after they place online orders.

Vikarabad Collector Pausumi Basu conferred on him the award on Republic Day in recognition of his achievements in the field of agriculture. Though Malreddy did his post-graduation in Political Science from Osmania University in the year 1992, he chose to continue with the family legacy of farming in Kothagadi village in Vikarabad for almost 10 years. However, his 28-year-old son Eshwar Reddy, who is pursuing M Tech from NIT Warangal, renders technical support and shares his ideas on best utilising online platform to take the organic farm produce to the doorsteps of customers. "After using semi-organic stuff to grow veggies for almost 10 years in my 8 acres of farmland, I shifted to organic farming only two years ago. Of late we have started selling our organic produce online and in just two-and-a-half months we received unprecedented patronage from the people around us," said an elated Kerelly Malreddy.

"I used to grow 20 types of veggies like tomato, chilies, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, ivy gourd, broad beans, bitter gourd white, black and blue Brinjal, beans, Cucumber, Cabbage, Carrot, Radish, Cherry, ginger, red cabbage, Chinese cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet corn, cluster beans, beetroot and ladies finger besides 8 types of leafy vegetables such as pudina, coriander, fenugreek, amaranth, spinach, Roselle (Gongura), Soya Kura, Chukka Kura and bachali Kura (Chinese Spinach). All these in an organic way using cow dung, vermicompost and waste decomposers being extracted from fields besides pest control sprays largely made up of plant extracts like Neem oil, Karanja Seeds oil etc.

"It is when my son Eshwar advised me to go far online marketing of the farm produce as people nowadays are more interested in getting things online post-pandemic. The idea works and soon the online request starts pouring in for farm-fresh veggies," he explained.

"We have a total of 8 labourers, six ladies and two delivery boys. The idea to sell the firm produce through online marketing entrenched in my mind soon after the outbreak of the pandemic. With no further ado, I formed an online marketing platform that is well received from every corner besides making us a new agri-based start-up in the district," said Eshwar Reddy, the brain-child behind the Kerelli Malreddy's resounding success as a new generation farmer.