Our Story
Bhoomgaadi Organic Farmer’s Producer Company Ltd was incorporated on 26th August, 2016, under the Companies Act, 2013, by the organic farmers of Dantewada with facilitation of Nirmaan Organization and support from the district administration, with the aim to provide the market linkage to the organic and indigenous produce of the district. It was a result of a yearlong deliberation among the representatives of farmer’s groups from across the villages that would happen at the district level every month. During these meetings the need to create a fair market linkage and unique identity for the organic and indigenous produce of Dantewada was felt.
​
Bhoomgaadi is trying to address this gap by organizing tribal, women, small & marginal farmers from remote villages to gain collective bargaining power and scale in the market. This has helped in aggregating the produce at the village level; transporting it out from the villages, and achieve a scale in processing, value addition and marketing. The farmers being the shareholders and members govern Bhoomgaadi through collectively appointed Board of Directors. Bhoomgaadi procures more than 30 types of produce from the farmers including various indigenous varieties of Paddy, millets, pulses, oilseeds, spices and some quantities of forest produce. The rates are collectively decided through the consultation with the framers keeping in mind the market trends. There is a differentiation in the procurement price kept between various varieties of paddy based in their unique characteristics based on fineness, aroma, medicinal and nutritious value.
​
This has given an incentive to the farmers to conserve and grow an array of traditional varieties of paddy which were once on the verge of extinction. The access to fair and organized market linkage for crops other than paddy has also given incentive to the farmers to grow them on larger scale. Though, only organically grown produce can be given to Bhoomgaadi, the process of registration and procurement is kept simple with minimum documentation and requirements from the farmers. The procurement is done by Bhoomgaadi at the village level with the support of the local farmers. This has helped farmers from remote regions form the district and without land titles in their names and lack of means of transportation to be able to give the produce to Bhoomgaadi.
Meet Our Team
Dedicated to building institutions, providing quality service and making a difference through food and agriculture.
Akash Badave
CEO
A graduate from BITS-Pilani with 9+ years of experience working in the field of Agriculture, Livelihoods and FPOs. He worked briefly with Barclays for a year and then joined the cohort of Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellowship (PMRDF), a program of Government of India that sends young and motivated professionals to one of the most backward and challenging areas in India. Under PMRDF he was posted in Dantewada in 2012 and during the stint of the fellowship, efforts to promote Organic Farming and indigenous crops began taking shape through the district administration. After the end of fellowship, he decided to stay back and work in Dantewada and continue building a farmer’s enterprise, Bhoomgaadi. Akash is the member of Managing Committee of Organic Farming Association of India and also served on various groups under State Planning Commission of Chhattisgarh
Shashank Gwalalni
Operations Lead
An engineer and post graduate in Rural Management from XIMB. He spent a brief amount time in an IT company and founded a startup; before getting attracted to the field of Rural Development. His work with PRADAN after MBA gave him a rich experience of working with Community institutions on livelihoods, governance and institution strengthening. In 2018, he moved to Dantewada to work with Bhoomgaadi and is currently serving as the Operations Lead which involves setting up and coordinating activities right from the field level sourcing Warehousing, processing and value addition to logistics and sales operations and channel building.
Lisha Crasto
Buisness Dev Lead
Lisha has 6 years’ experience in Business Development & Project Management with a strong suit in Product Development & Strategy. Her passion towards Agri enterprises was sparked while working with AgriTechs early in her career which led her to take up an MBA in Rural Management from XIMB, making it her vocation. Her work experience in Financial Inclusion and FinTech expanded her expertise and added an overall appreciation towards using technology to address social change. Lisha wants to use her skills in Marketing, Business Process Management and Customer Engagement to grow Bhoomgaadi’s homegrown brand ‘Aadim’ to contribute towards the long term profitability of the FPC.