Empower Women Farmers in India

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Seva Mandir.

Hope you are well. Today I thought of sharing with you some recent positive developments related to our dal mill project.

 As you know that our dal mill was established in Medi village of Kotra block in the year 2008 with the objective of giving back the farmers the benefits of a value chain and removal of middlemen from the same. Our second objective was to provide quality pulses to the consumers at fair price. Till now our objective has been realized successfully and the fact that we have realized a turnover of almost Rs. 7,00,000 for FY ’12-’13 and the largest hotel of Udaipur, the Taj lake Palace being our client bear testimony to the same.

The farmers of Kotra from whom we procure the pulses have never used chemical fertilizers or pesticides for cultivation of crops. The QPS Laboratories of Hyderabad (India), where we sent a sample of our tuar dal (lentil) for testing has confirmed the same. The quality of our dal is such good that for the first time we have received an international order from Japan.

Shiho Yamasaki from Japan is a client of Sadhna Handicrafts (sister concern of Seva Mandir). Last year during the visit she purchased some amount of tuar dal from Sadhna. After going back to her home country she cooked the same and also gave samples to her friends. She was so impressed by the quality and taste of dal that she came for a visit to India last month just to know more about the pulses. She undertook a visit of the dal mill during last month. During her visit we provided her with details regarding the quality of dal and the operational details of the dal mill. She interviewed the farmers regarding their farming practices. During her return we provided her with samples of all three varieties of dal. Shiho had links with some of the largest pulses retailers in Japan. She said that local availability of pulses in Japan is very scarce and prices are quite high. The quality of dal is not very good either. She promised to showcase our dal to the retailers of Japan and emphasize about its quality and certification to them.

As a result of our fine quality of dal, we have received a tentative order of 100Kgs. Of tuar dal from Shiho. We are in the process of sorting out the technicalities of dal export to a foreign country. Once it’s cleared the tuar dal from Medi Village will for the first time land on foreign soil which we are confident will be highly appreciated for its great taste. It’s indeed an achievement for us.

We are very proud of the hard work these farmers have put in to make Dal Mill project a huge success. As you may know the project has helped the farmers receive 30% more income and it is certainly a good news. Much of this success is also due to your untiring support. Please do let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you once again.

Atul Lekhra 

Links:

• Seva Mandir's official website