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Kerala farmers to take over EU project

Vinson Kurian

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Feb. 21

THE New Delhi-based office of the Counsellor (Development) of the European Union (EU) and the Kerala Government are working out on the smooth transition of the eight-year-long, EU-funded Kerala Horticultural Development Programme (KHDP) into a new autono mous company, styled Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK), which will be mostly-controlled by farmer members.

``KHDP has proved successful in so much as it has been able ensure farmer participation as no other EU-funded programme,'' Mr Andrew Headey, Counsellor (Development), and Ms Anatalia Alonso, Advisor of the Office of the Delegation of the European Commiss ion in India, told Business Line here.

Initiated in 1993, the KHDP is being wound up in December this year, two years after the EU granted an unusual extension to the programme. The KHDP currently assists 37,000 vegetable and banana farmers cultivating 14,230 hectares of land spread over seve n districts. Most of them are marginal farmers, cultivating mainly leased land. Nearly 75 per cent of these farmers have increased their income - 17,700 of them having received over Rs 130 crore in bank loans through recourse to a customised revolving cr edit system with an impressive repayment of nearly 90 per cent.

Mr Headey and Ms Alonso were here to attend a meeting of the steering committee headed by the State Chief Secretary to oversee the eventual merger of KHDP into the VFPCK, which has been described as a `logical extension' to the former.

Scheduled to function from April 1, VFPCK will be the first organisation of its kind in the country where farmers will enjoy majority control while being actively supported by both the Government and service institutions. Farmer SHGs will hold atleast 50 per cent of the company's shares and the State Government and other institutions the rest in a 30:20 ratio.

``As part of the VFPCK programme, the Kerala Government has provided some land and we are providing funds for setting up a centre of excellence in Ernakulam which will house an office centre and training centre. The centre will come up in Ernakulam by th e end of this year,'' Ms Alonso said.

In a parallel development, the EU office has expressed itself in favour of the diversification plans being envisaged for the agro-processing plant set up in Muvattupuzha, near Ernakulam, as part of KHDP. The plant is being primed to take up processing of vegetables as a diversified activity. Located in the heart of Kerala's prime pineapple growing plantations, the state-of-the-art plant is currently engaged in the commercial processing of pineapple, mango and other fruits.

The plant has been conceived as a public limited company with 70 per cent of the shareholders being farmers and the rest owned by the State Government. The factory produces fruit concentrate, ready-to-serve juice and candied fruit. The company has tied u p with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) for marketing of its products, main among them a ready-to-serve pineapple juice called `Jive'.

The plant has been running to capacity alternating between the seasonal pineapple and mango harvests. Pineapple has two major seasons - the winter crop and the July-August crop. The intervening period takes care of the mango crop sourced from within Kera la as also from neighbouring States.

According to Ms Alonso, the Centre has also mooted a proposal for the food processing plant to diversify into various food products. ``We are not averse to the idea provided it is a commercially viable proposition. Some pilot studies to ascertain the fea sibility have been recommended,'' she added.

The infusion of fresh capital and introduction of technology, if necessary, for the diversification of the plant would be decided in December. ``We wish the programme goes from strength to strength even after the EU formally withdraws from the scene. We also welcome the prospect of the company being able to raise further capital requirement from commercial sources,'' Mr Headey said.

Explaining the involvement of the EU in development projects in the country, Mr Headey said natural resources has been a traditional area of interest. ``We have got atleast 20 bilateral projects in the sector being executed in association with the Centre and the State Governments concerned. Each such programme has an environmental dimension to it as well,'' he added.

However, in recent times, the EU finds itself getting more and more involved in education and health programmes in the country. ``We are supporting education programmes to the tune of 150 million euros. Another 200 million euros have been earmarked for t he Sarva Siksha Abhian announced in the last year's Union Budget,'' Mr Headey said.

The EU has committed 200 million euros to the country's health sector reforms, some portion of which will get invested in speeding up management reforms in the sector. In future, it could also get involved in the Government-sponsored programmes and servi ces in the environment sector and it is looking at several strategies in the sector. The EU has also been supporting many NGOs engaged in relief and rehabilitation, a recent instance being quake-related relief in Gujarat.

``Our total exposure in various ongoing programmes in the country is to the tune one billion euros,'' he added.