Doubling of farm income through input and output marketing in villages near Himmatnagar town in Gujarat

Gujarat Agriculture is direly in need of efforts towards extension support in agricultural input and output marketing by local communities to the Government APMCs particularly in the context of the new model APMC act to integrate and streamline the market for agricultural inputs and outputs in the state. Theodore Schultz (1964) has written about how in a traditional agriculture, extension efforts are of prime importance, so as to motivate and incentivize the farmer for innovation. Such supportive private extension efforts are provided by Hearty Mart Farm2Market regarding more efficient provision of seeds to the farmer and more efficient sale of his crop. This enterprising activity is undertaken by Dr. Abbas bhai Aglodiya in Himmatnagar District of Gujarat. After 39 years as an agriscientist (till 2014) in the Government system he has chosen to become a mentor to the farmers of this area through this venture. As an agri scientist Abbas Bai was responsible for providing seeds and improving productivity of various villages in Gujarat., A PhD in agricultural Sciences, he aims to establish a strong chain of logistics across the Himmatnagar Area, for the farmer both as a buyer of inputs and as a seller of his crop. Abbas bhai Aglodiya, since last 8 years, has been planning Hearty Mart Farm2Market (which has been operational since a year) in consultation with Nadeem Jafri, Chief Mentor of Hearty. Hearty Mart is achain of 12 retail stores run in a franchising format, with the head office Hearty Mart Enterprise operating from Ahmedabad. Hearty Mart has been set up by the chief Mentor and EntrepreneurNadeem Jafri, a young Syed Shia businessman who is from the family of the sect head of the chilea Momin Shia Community, a businesslike mercantile community, owning restaurants across highways ofGujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra, the restaurants are run in a trusteeship format. Hearty-Mart hasbeen set up with a long term vision of steady sustained enterprise and chooses modest young Chileamen to train and then set up their franchise store. Hearty Mart has a philosophy of providing specialproducts at reasonable price, close to the customer, while ensuring that a variety of different customer tastes are satisfied irrespective of ethnicities or caste. Hearty Mart Farm2Market extends this philosophy by offering free consultancy to farmers, helping procure high quality farm input inclusive of seeds, encouraging best practices on the farm, providing support services at farm gate, eliminating middlemen and getting best price at farm gate, besides it helps the farmer collaborate with others, including government efforts. With regard to sale promotion, Farm2 Market helps in the sale of soyabean crop of farmers of the villages near Himmatnagar town to Gujarat Ambuja Export Limited, a big capitalist. Besides this Cumin seed is sourced from a seed production cooperative in Gochnad village nearby and Chana seed from an agricultural University in Dantiwada. Thus Farm2Market complements the extension efforts of the state in Himmatnagar District.