Hingoli: Meet Madhavrao Kawarkhe, a small-time farmer from Hingoli region of Maharashtra, whose 'organic' jaggery is in demand throughout the region. Madhavrao, who started sugarcane farming around 38 years ago, has stayed away from giving his produce to sugarcane factory which is a practise very common in the state.
According to reports, Madhavrao earns 4-5 lakh rupees annually from his jaggery sale and is setting a model to follow for his fellow farming community. The interesting factor is the method of cultivation of sugarcane and the unrefined sugar is purely organic without any added preservatives.
Madhavrao owns 12 acres of ancestral farmland and a small patch of one-acre land, where he does organic sugarcane cultivation and it has helped Madhavrao build his brand of jaggery.
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Speaking to ETV Bharat, Madhavrao Kavarkhe said, "Customers trust my methods and this trust has become my brand. If we do anything from the bottom of the heart, definitely we get success."
"If every farmer starts a supplementary business along with agriculture, the burden of the loan will reduce," he added.
A single customer usually buy around 5-10 Kilos which has sustained his farming business at a time when sugarcane cultivation is turning into a debt trap.
Drought-like conditions and unseasonal rainfall have posed problems for sugarcane cultivation for the past three years and the quantum of crushed sugarcane is high even when the price and demand remain low, causing severe hardship for the farmers.
