Ampati, May 16, 2023: It was a proud moment for the farmers of Dimiligre IVCS Ltd. of South West Garo Hills who managed to ship about 11 tons of local black pepper to Mumbai on Tuesday, with the support of MLAMP, Meghalaya Basin Development Authority, through which the Government of Meghalaya created sustainable marketing linkages for local producers of the state.
The first of its kind trade in the district was flagged off by Dr. Digonto Hajong, BDO of Zikzak C&RD Block, who also congratulated the farmers and wished them luck for their future business deals.
A total of 200 packets at the rate of Rs 450/Kg has been bought by Mumbai based company, Sundardas Rathansey Spices Pvt. Ltd. Satish Dharamsey Pallicha, the Managing Director of the company, who has about 30 years experience in trading black pepper, said that the region has a huge potential to produce and also market agricultural products, provided, the farmers get required loans from the banks.
Pallicha stated that the Black pepper that are locally grown here is of good quality but they need genuine buyers who can pay a good price to these farmers.
Disappointed about not being able to purchase more quantity, he said that some of the farmers have already sold it to other contractors from neighbouring state, who pay them much lower price, in cash. According to him, they then mix the good quality pepper with low quality ones and sell them in the market.
Pallicha also expressed his disappointment in needing to pay taxes to different local groups despite paying GST and CGST. He said, ” how will the farmers benefit if we have to keep on paying taxes throughout the highway and if different groups keep on coming and asking for taxes as per their own wish”.
Joshi Tuisum, Partnership Manager with MBMA/ IDH, said that it is difficult to get genuine buyer and contractors at buyers and sellers’ meet and it was only after much effort that he crossed paths with SD Pallicha.
Kitmiller Sangma, DDM, NABARD, WR Kharlukhi, Sub Registrar of Cooperation Department, Sirbatswa Hajong, JCO, Zikzak Circle i/c and officials and staff of MBMA, South West Garo Hills were also present during the occasion.
Dimiligre IVCS Ltd. is not only a registered society, but it is also FSSAI registered. Today, Dimiligre IVCS Ltd. is setting a great example for farmers across South West Garo Hills by trading agricultural produce to genuine buyers. This is an achievement of not only the farmers of Dimiligre village but also the fruits bore by the efforts of Government of Meghalaya, District Administration, MBMA and many other sectors who have tirelessly worked to uplift the lives of these farmers.