The Runj river and Ajaigarh’s dal farmers

Santoshi Kori is enjoying the novel feeling of ownership. “It is we women who decided to set up the farmer cooperative. Now the men in our village admit it’s a good idea,” she adds laughing.

A Dalit farmer in Guchara hamlet of Bhairaha panchayat, she paid up Rs. 1,000 as membership fee for the Runj Mahila Farmers Producers Organisation (MFPO) – one of 300 Adivasi, Dalit and OBC (Other Backward Class) women in Panna district to do so in January 2024. Santoshi is one of five board members of the Runj MFPO and is called upon to speak at gatherings and spread the word.

“Earlier, the bicholiya [trader] would come and take our arhar dal [pigeon-pea] at a lower price as it was not milled. And then he never came on time, and we never got our money on time,” she tells PARI. The 45-year-old mother of three grows arhar dal on her family’s two acres of rain-fed land, and has also taken another acre on tenancy. Only 11 per cent women in the country own land, and Madhya Pradesh is no exception.

The Runj MFPO – named after the river Runj, a tributary of the Baghain which drains into the Yamuna – is a collective of women farmers across 28 villages across Ajaigarh and Panna block. Started in 2024, it already had a turnover of Rs. 40 lakh and is aiming to double this in the coming year.

“Almost all the families in my village have at least 2-4 acres. We thought we are growing jaivik [organic] crops, all of us, so let’s focus on the arhar dal and contribute towards a machine to mill it,” says Santoshi explaining the reason for setting up the cooperative.

The arhar dal of Ajaigarh region has a wide following. “The Dharampur belt of land that runs along the Runj river, the dal grown here is famous for its taste and aroma,” says Garjan Singh of Pradan. Locals say the river – a run-off from the Vindhyachal hills – is fertile ground for farming. Pradan is a non-governmental organisation working with farmers here and played a key role in setting up the women-only organisation.

Farmers like Santoshi were determined to get a fair price. “Now we can give it to our Run MFPO and get our money on time,” she says. Arhar dal sells at Rs. 10,000 a quintal, and in May 2024, the price had slipped to Rs. 9,400. But Runj members felt they still got a better deal with farm gate purchases made through their collective.

Rakesh Rajput is the CEO of Runj (the only employee) and he says that they use heirloom seeds; hybrid varieties don’t make an appearance here. He takes care of 12 collection centres which have weighing machines, bags and a parkhi to check each bag’s contents.

Runj is aiming for a five-fold increase in membership over the coming year and wants to diversify the range of products from the current arhar dal to chickpea, livestock marketing (goats of the Bundelkhandi breed) and organic fertilisers and seeds, says Sugandha Sharma who works with Pradan. “We want door-to-door connectivity for our farmers,” she adds.

In the patch of land behind her home Santoshi grows gourds and other vegetables which she shows us; the family’s two buffaloes have gone grazing with her husband and they will be back soon.

“I have never eaten any other daal. The dal from my field cooks as quickly as rice, and it’s sweet to the taste,” she says proudly.