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An informative session ‘Mud to Millions’ was conducted by Mr Uday Kumar Kollimath on 31st Jan’19 on the IV floor hall for the II-year BCom, BBA and BCA students between 10:30 am and 12:30 pm. Prof Nikitha Sreekantha, HOD-DSBA introduced Mr Uday Kumar to the audience and he was given a floral welcome by Dr Veena K N, Dean.
Mr Uday Kumar acquired a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from University of Agriculture Sciences, Bangalore with specialization in Agriculture Economics followed by MBA in Marketing from TASMAC Pune. He has over 2 decades of working experience in rural sector especially in helping the farmers to improve the production and productivity of different crops, evolved Agriculture Marketing strategies for world Bank, incorporated Data Base of crops grown in command areas of the KCBTMP project, organized more than 20 Participatory Rural Appraisals to evolve marketing plan for agriculture commodities, developed Farmer Interest Groups for improving collective bargaining, effectively introduced technique of 4 P’s of Marketing in promoting organically grown fresh vegetables, revived Kodo Millet which had become extinct in the state of Karnataka, guided the students of Post Graduate Students of Agribusiness Management of Sri Sri Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Technology to start their career as entrepreneurs in Millets, established market linkage for the Farmers group at Doddabevalli village. Currently he is working on establishing Farmers’ Cooperative to promote production of A2 milk as well as training farmers in taking up organic production of vegetables, millets, spices and coffee. He is also honorary editor for Kannada Magazine ‘Meghadhare.’
Mr Kumar started the session spiritually with a prayer and holding the bouquet in hand thought it was appropriate to start the talk with the topic -floriculture and its importance especially to the farmers. He emphasized to the students the need to think about food as an important part in one’s life the way they do about the other requirements in their lives. One need not have an educational background in agriculture for farming but one must have a passion for it!
He recounted his agricultural experiences till date and accentuated about the beauty of millets and the advantages of growing them, he enlightened the students about the way the food processing industry misguides consumers, the harmful use of pesticides, chemical farming, poor soil quality in the present times, and so on. He also stated the benefits of cold pressed oil as against the other cooking medium.
Mr Uday encouraged students to read books of people propagating agriculture and moved on to talk about his current occupation about establishing Farmers’ Cooperative to promote production of A2 milk as well as training farmers in taking up organic production of vegetables, millets, spices and coffee.
He suggested ideas about various business opportunities available to the students in the field of agriculture such as working on increasing indigenous cow breeds, devising best practises in farming as there is a need to mobilize the farmers’ producer organization and help connect them to the market, understanding the composition of crops as growing fibre, oilseed etc has become essential, beekeeping , organic farming certification , organic farming promotion, growing safflower and medicinal plants to name a few.
He narrated a success story of a Harvard student Annie Ryu-Founder Global Village Fruits to inspire students to kickstart a venture by just picking any idea the way she did with jackfruit! He urged the creative thinkers in the audience to think something innovative like opening a salad bar. He also informed the students about the various certificate courses available at Art of Living in this field and mentioned that training in terrace farming is catching up amongst women. Looking at the population density, he felt there is a ready opportunity for the youth in agriculture sector. He then showed the solar trap to capture pests in agriculture farms and explained the way it functions. At the end of his talk, Mr Kumar inspired students not to diverge in their thoughts but lead a fulfilling life.
Dr Veena thanked Mr Uday and remarked that she marvelled at his energy level and his passion to speak on diverse issues including the vast spectrum of food. She sincerely hoped that all in the audience introspect and understand that food is a vital component in life and hence it’s imperative that all take ample care of it. Some students came forward and appreciated Mr Uday Kumar for his undying efforts, posed queries regarding the subject and got satisfactory answers.
