Barter System and Emergence of Middlemen: A common transaction method in the region was barter system- a traditional practice where farmers would barter part of their harvested produce with other commodities. A form of this practice has been adapted by saahukaars (middlemen) who procure paddy from farmers for x amount and return them milled rice of the same amount. This practice also applies for cotton, millets and other pulses which farmers sell. The milled produce given to them is often of poor quality, and sometimes the produce given is of lower rate. Middle men capture the markets in this manner and have turned the traditional barter system into an exploitative business practice. Hence, the
setting up of the SHGs and FPOs with decentralized milling systems were critical in this region.

Procurement Model: The milling centre has been operational since December 2018 which is run by the production staff, mill operator and a night watch. Their procurement policy is that they procure the paddy from the member farmers at the same rates which are offered by the block level government centres. However, the additional benefit is that at the end of the year, the profit is redistributed to the member farmers in the form of dividends. The procurement of paddy happens twice a year, right after the harvesting period. Since the storage facility isn’t sufficient for all the paddy to be stored, there is a rotational system in place – where some SHGs give their produce and some store it at home all of whom are given payment in advance for their quantity of produce. Once the first batch has been milled and stored, the second batch is brought in. Another system in place is that farmers write letters to the FPO stating the quantity that they require for self consumption and the quantity they would like to sell. Deducting the processing charge, the amount is paid in advance and the rest is maintained in their registers.

Input Supply: The FPO also supports the farmers with technical support, awareness of new scientific techniques for productivity enhancement and cropping practices, input supplies like seeds, irrigation, fertilizers etc which makes it more compelling for the farmers to sell to the FPO as opposed to the market.

Processing: The stored paddy is processed daily in batches, packed and sold to the vendors using their mini truck which they invested in for both marketing and procurement. The members pay a processing fee of INR 2 per kg. With the mill being established locally, time and money spent on traveling to towns has also been saved.
Marketing: The main towns around the village are Nabarangpur, Joypur and Papadahandi. The FPO board of directors, vendors, government representatives conducted a meeting for formulating the marketing plan before the mill was established. Through this local team, linkages with surrounding vendors were formed who were responsible for micro-selling. This was taken into consideration before the technology capacity and energy system design was done.