Two farmers started the organic store to help other farmers to sell and consumers to buy chemical free food

“We are passionate about the healthy and nutrient rich food. Mother Nature has designed the ecosystem in a way that food can be grown for all through natural farming practices. There is no need to add poison in the cultivation process giving an excuse to feed the forever increasing population!” says Mr. P.B.Murali and Mr. Hari Sethuraman, Partners, Shandy Organics .

Mr. P.B.Murali is the organic farmer since 35 years. He says, “I have never used any chemicals in our farm. To facilitate organic food accessible to the consumers and help other farmers sell their organic farm produce I started Shandy Organics 17 years before at Chennai along with my partner Hari. We as in a team have sailed through tough times sticking to our principals and ethics of producing and supplying poison free food especially when common public were not even aware what is organic?”

“Yes, we have the same vision to produce and sell pure food. We are one stop source for all edible cooking ingredients be it cereals, pulses, seasoning, oils, ghee, dairy products, fruits and vegetables etc. We never compromise on our quality hence volume of business does not matter to us,” avers Mr. Hari Sethuraman. Shandy Organics is a wholesale as well as retail store. Every Wednesday and Thursday is the fruits and vegetables day. 35-40 varieties of vegetables and 10-12 varieties of fruits are sold. “We do not sell any pre-cooled items as in cold storage the fruits and vegetables are fumigated that is against organic practices.” Products are said to be priced reasonably. Over the year the store has become the most credible store for the organic grocery purchase. “Word of mouth publicity has brought us so far. We have never advertised!” he adds.

All the commodities are sourced from the organic farmers. Stringent procedure is followed before including the any farmer in the vendor network. “We go in for farm inspections to know about their farming practices, quality of the food items and sudden visits. Once we are 100% confident about the farmers’ farming practices we buy their farm produce because as said quality is imperative for us,” states Mr. Murali. All those farmers who find it tough to sell their produce directly to consumers, “Prefers us because we give better price than mandi and immediate payments are made through NEFT transfer. It is commercially viable for farmers to associate with us as we buy in bulk from them. We also help them in producing better by solving their farming related challenges and problems,” claims Mr. Sethuraman.

“Besides the commercial sales of organic food commodities we at Shandy Organics encourage fellow farmers quit chemical farming practices hence we provide them all possible help. We are committed to this goal more than the annual turnover of our store,” asserts Mr. Sethuraman. Annually Shandy Organics partners add minimum 25 new farmers in their organic producers’ network to bring a positive and consistent change for better tomorrow. “Even farmers do not want to use the chemicals but they lack the knowledge and guidance to practice chemical free farming. We bridge this gap.”

Farmers are given confidence to use local farming knowledge because there is solution to all problems in their vicinity itself. “Pests came before us. We have to learn to live with it. In our own farm we grow mangoes and paddy. After the harvest we use the smoke of dried leaves in the entire farm. With this technique 60-70% pests will leave the farm and for remaining we spray the concoction of ginger + garlic! These are simple tricks but most of us have forgotten so we revive these practices” informs Mr. Murali.

Plants need all the nutrients to grow therefore the soil must be fertile. “To enrich the soil humus and organic matter is added to balance all the nutrient requirements. Apart from panchagavya and jeevamrutham we ask the farmers to use crop required farming inputs for example the poultry manure if managed properly is excellent for paddy cultivation. Similarly mulch and vermicompost is very helpful,” says Mr. Sethuraman.

The duo concludes, “Shandy Organics is run as commercial business but it is actually a social movement. The change is visible as the organic production is increasing every day. Further many professionals are quitting their jobs and taking up farming as full time profession. We call them as gentleman farmers. They know about the devastating effects of downward swirl of chemical based farming hence are inclined to be instrumental to bring change by working with the nature. We are the aggregators to grow and supply poison free food and we will be on this path forever!”

Contact details:
The Shandy
177, Luz church Road,  Mylapore, Chennai 600 004
Mobile: Mr. P.B.Murali 93806 91203,
Mr. Hari Sethuraman 87544 06338
Email : shandyorganic@gmail.com