She sold her family’s car to start a farmer producer company

Reshamdevi Mallick (38) of Daringbadi village in Odisha’s Kandhamal district is the managing director-cum-chief executive officer of Greenflag Farmer Producer Company. Here’s her story of transformation from being a supervisor in an NGO to becoming the leader of a company – in her own words.

When the pandemic showed no signs of letting up, my life partner Rajesh Mallick and I shed sweat and tears to set up Greenflag Farmer Producer Company Limited. Our hard work paid off when we had a turnover of Rs 50 lakh in the very first year. 

But a long spell of turmoil had preceded that.

I met Rajesh in 2004 when I was a class-12 student. He used to visit his sister in the hostel where I was also staying.

We wanted to tie the knot. But our parents opposed it since we belong to different religions. When we couldn’t convince them, we decided to live together without getting married.

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When we went to Rajesh’s native place Siaro, a village in Puri district, his parents didn’t slam the door on our face. But they were not welcoming either. 

I wanted to continue my studies, but the rough situation at home derailed it.

Unable to bear the antagonistic atmosphere after a point of time, Rajesh and I, along with our one-year-old son, left Siaro in a sports utility vehicle he owned. 

We went to Daringbadi. My parents had mellowed by then and gave us space in their house. 

Fortunately, I got a job as a supervisor in People’s Rural Education Movement (PREM), an NGO, for a monthly salary of Rs 3,500. 

Rajesh started driving tourists around in his car and earned Rs 10,000 to 12,000 every month.

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I felt uncomfortable staying at my parents’ house. My mother, an anganwadi worker, was the sole breadwinner of my maternal family of six. My father had become invalid in an accident two decades ago. But I had no option.

In 2011 I went for a one-month training at PREM’s research station at Mannuthy in Kerala. I got to interact with farmers and agricultural experts, which fuelled my desire to do something on my own.   

Misfortune struck after I returned from my training. I met with an accident when I was out on official work. I was expecting my second child. Fortunately the baby didn’t suffer any harm. 

But my medical expenses drained our meagre savings, though PREM met a major part of it. We managed with Rajesh’s income and some small panchayat contracts. 

Then Rajesh and I built our two-room thatched roof house with our own hands, without hiring any workers. We have now renovated and expanded it into a four-room structure.

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Rajesh and I had always wanted to do something of our own. One day we sold his vehicle for Rs 80,000 and invested the money to set up Greenflag Farmer Producer Company Limited (GFPCL) in 2021. With 10 farmers, GFPCL started its business handling 15 agricultural products. 

Naysayers predicted that GFPCL wouldn’t survive, because of the wrong timing. 

But with our determination we converted the no-win situation into a win-win for us and the farmers with this farmer producer company. We have not availed of any government assistance, but managed with private institutional loans.

Now there are 100 farmers in the group and we deal in over 70 products, including different types of rice, ginger, garlic, yellow and black turmeric, and vegetables. In four years, I plan to get 50,000 farmers from 10 districts enlisted and to deal in 250 products.

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