Big companies are now increasingly venturing into agri-business. But they are finding that it's not easy to reach out to the farmers. So, they are trying out new models.

Farmers, too, face a similar dilemma. Most of them, who wish to produce for the market, are unable to get in touch with the agri-business companies. Which is why -- to help farmers overcome this disability and get into commercial mode -- the Small Farmers' Agri-business Consortium was created in 1994.

Unlike cooperatives and other institutions that tend to function as appendages of the government, the SFAC is an autonomous body promoted by the government in collaboration with several banking and financial institutions and, notably, the private sector. Its board has significant representation from the private sector.

After coping with the teething troubles, the SFAC has now begun to show results in the field and is aspiring to play a more aggressive role in linking small farmers with the market as also with industrial and business houses and voluntary organisations.

What the SFAC is actually doing is to encourage small and tiny farmers to form self-help groups and then assist them in adopting relevant technology for production, post-harvest handling, value-addition and marketing of the produce. Since the SFAC has now been declared a financial institution, it has begun venture capital funding as well.

Besides, it runs the technology mission for integrated development of horticulture in the north-eastern and other hilly states of Jammu & Kashmir, Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh. The programme of assisting agricultural graduates to set up agri-clinics or agri-business centres is also being looked after by the SFAC.

According to SFAC Managing Director G S Dutt, the consortium plans to involve a number of good local and multinational companies in the processing and marketing of agricultural produce.

The institutional arrangements required to woo these companies, as also to ensure the success of such ventures, will be put in place in the next four to five years. The SFAC intends these companies to get into areas where other agencies dare not go.

Indeed, there have been a few success stories that indicate that such an approach is practical. The commercialisation of wild seabuckthorn (Leh berry) fruit in the higher hills of Ladakh and passion fruit in the north-east are cases in point.

Seabuckthorn is an amazingly useful fruit (berry) borne on trees that grow abundantly at altitudes of more than 8,000 feet in Ladakh, Lahaul and Spiti and other Himalayan hills. Local legends refer to it as the nectar of the gods because of its health-related benefits that have now been scientifically ascertained by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The extract of the Leh berry has been found to be a general tonic and energiser that has helped army personnel posted in the upper hills to withstand harsh climates. It also has medicinal properties.

The SFAC is collaborating with the DRDO and private entrepreneurs to produce and market the Leh berry-based drink. This project has resulted in economic transformation of this otherwise-remote and backward region.

The production of passion fruit-beverage, branded as "passion sip", for commercial purposes is yet another example of how such a neglected but tremendously useful agro-product can change the face of the countryside.

Though passion fruit (at least three varieties) has been grown for centuries in various parts of the country, including the north-east, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and the Nilgiri hills, its commercial potential is sought to be exploited only now.

For this purpose, the SFAC has joined hands with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) and a non-government organisation, Good Samaritan Social Service Organisation, to set up a modern plan at Mao in Manipur, to manufacture international-quality products from this fruit.

This has served as a catalyst in the popularisation of systematic cultivation of passion fruit in Manipur and Nagaland. Significantly, many of the former insurgents have now settled for growing passion fruit.

This apart, the SFAC has taken up the promotion of a rare multi-utility aromatic oil called patchouli. Produced in Assam, this high-priced oil is in great demand globally. Buyers from abroad, especially France, come all the way to Assam to purchase it.

Promotion of organic farming is among the new initiatives the SFAC is planning to launch along with its state-level counterparts. Four projects have already been lined up for this purpose. They will be in Rajasthan, Kerala, Nagaland and Uttaranchal.

Thanks to the premium price that organic products fetch in the domestic and international markets, these projects, too, have the potential to uplift the rural economy in these tracts.