“Earlier, if we couldn’t sell our mangoes in time, they would eventually rot. We had no option but to accept whatever price the local traders offered us,” says Jiwanti Bara, a 50-year-old farmer from Birnibera village in Jharkhand’s Simdega district.
For nearly eight years, the orchard outside her home has carried her family’s hopes for a better income. Every summer, its Amrapali mango trees grow heavy with fruit after months of watering, pruning and protecting the crop from pests.
But as harvest time approached, Jiwanti knew another worry was waiting. Growing mangoes was familiar. But finding someone to buy them at a fair price was far less certain.
Like many small farmers across Simdega, her family depended on local traders who came during harvest season and largely decided the price. Turning down an offer meant risking the fruit spoiling before another buyer arrived.
“Our bargaining power was very limited, and if the mangoes could not be sold on time, there was always the risk of wastage and loss,” she recalls.
Across Jharkhand, many families faced the same problem. Farmers could grow good mangoes, but reaching buyers beyond local markets was difficult. Women spent hours tending orchards and harvesting fruit, yet often had little say in how the crop was sold or priced.
Today, Jiwanti’s mangoes can travel far beyond her village.
Women farmers from Jharkhand are now selling to organised buyers across India, while some consignments have reached England, Italy and the United Arab Emirates.
“I felt very happy and proud when I learnt that our mangoes had reached an international market,” Jiwanti says. “Earlier, we never imagined that fruit grown by farmers like us could go outside India. Now I hope we can reach more markets, earn better prices and improve our family’s income.”
When a good harvest created a new problem
The story began years before the first export.
Thousands of rural families across Jharkhand planted orchards under the Birsa Harit Gram Yojana (BHGY), a flagship initiative of the state’s Rural Development Department aimed at creating long-term livelihood opportunities through horticulture.
Farmers could grow good mangoes, but reaching buyers beyond local markets was difficult.
Technical support came from PRADAN (Professional Assistance for Development Action), alongside the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS), district administrations, the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) and teams working under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
Over the years, farmers planted orchards across nearly 1.86 lakh acres of their own land. By 2026, these plantations were benefiting around 2.15 lakh rural households across all 24 districts.
Amrapali and Mallika mangoes became popular for their flavour, regular fruiting and ability to withstand long-distance transportation. As the trees matured, harvests grew. So did the question of where all that fruit would go.
“Around December 2025, we started seeing good mango production from the orchards developed under BHGY,” says Shyam, a 27-year-old livelihood expert with PRADAN who works closely with farmers, farmer producer organisations and government departments in Simdega.
“The main question was how to connect this increasing production with better and more organised markets so farmers could receive deserved prices. Production had improved, but market access had not,” he tells The Better India.
Tarak Nath Das, team coordinator at PRADAN, had seen the same gap. He has worked with the organisation since 2007 across field implementation, district coordination and state-level programmes, and for the past three years has supported the MGNREGA State Planning Cell under Jharkhand’s Rural Development Department through BHGY.
“Over the years, we identified a humongous gap,” he explains. “Farmers had successfully developed orchards, but many lacked the knowledge and skills needed after harvesting. They did not know enough about sorting, grading, packing, maintaining quality, or meeting buyer requirements. As a result, most producers continued selling to local traders at relatively low prices.”
The fruit was there. The missing link was what happened after harvest.
Learning how to reach a bigger market
Beginning in December 2025, PRADAN worked with the District Administration, JSLPS (Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society), DRDA (District Rural Development Agency), MGNREGA teams and farmer producer organisations (FPOs) to estimate production, understand farmers’ readiness and learn what buyers expected.
FPOs are farmer-owned enterprises that help members collect produce, negotiate prices and reach larger markets together.
Women farmers from Jharkhand are now selling to organised buyers across India, while some consignments have reached England, Italy and the United Arab Emirates.
Officials visited villages, FPOs assessed how much fruit could be collected and sold together, and potential vendors, exporters and organised buyers were identified. Several buyer-seller meets then brought farmers and buyers into the same room.
“We did not move directly to exports. We first organised several discussions, coordination meetings and buyer-seller meets so farmers could understand what organised markets expected and buyers could better understand the farmers before we finalised the market linkages,” explains Shyam.
Farmers across Simdega were trained in orchard management, nutrient application, pest and disease management, harvesting techniques and post-harvest handling. They learnt to harvest mangoes at the right stage of maturity, remove sap through desapping, prevent bruising and sort fruit by size, appearance and quality.
For many families, these were unfamiliar steps because local markets rarely rewarded that level of care.
There was also a practical concern: export buyers would accept only fruit that met specific quality standards. Farmers could still lose money if the rest had nowhere to go.
“We wanted every grade of mango to find a market,” Shyam says. “If only export-quality mangoes are purchased, farmers still suffer losses. That is why we built a system where export-quality fruit reaches premium buyers while the remaining produce is linked with suitable national and local markets.”
Two women-led FPOs became central to that system: Mahila Jagriti Farmer Producer Company and Biura Farmer Producer Company.
For Jiwanti, the numbers changed in one harvest
For Jiwanti, the training changed the way she looked at the fruit growing outside her home.
“We learnt about orchard management, pest and disease control, proper harvesting, desapping, sorting and grading,” she says. “Earlier, we never paid much attention to these practices because we sold everything to local traders. Now we understand that maintaining quality opens the door to better markets.”
Earlier, she earned around Rs 25,000 from mango cultivation. This year, after selling nearly two tonnes through her FPO, her income rose to around Rs 80,000. The price she received also increased from roughly Rs 20 per kilogram to nearly Rs 30 per kilogram.
“I feel more confident now because I know our produce can reach bigger markets, which has improved our income and reduced the chances of our mangoes going to waste,” she says.
The change is visible across Simdega too. According to Shyam, mangoes marketed through the initiative increased from around 10 tonnes to nearly 31 tonnes. Depending on quality, prices rose from Rs 20–25 per kilogram to around Rs 31 per kilogram in organised domestic markets and up to Rs 42 per kilogram for export-quality fruit.
“The biggest change has been in market access,” he says. “Earlier, farmers depended almost entirely on local traders. Today, they have opportunities to sell in inter-district, national and international markets. Through the FPOs, they also receive better market information, which has strengthened their confidence and bargaining power.”
When women began having a say in the sale
During the harvest season, the two FPOs gave individual farmers a way to reach buyers they could rarely access alone. They mobilised farmers, collected mangoes and organised procurement centres where fruit was checked for size, maturity, appearance and quality. Export-grade mangoes were packed separately, while the rest was purchased for domestic wholesale markets, organised retailers and other buyers across India.
For women, the change also meant joining decisions around aggregation, quality checks, procurement and marketing.
Dewanti Devi, 35, from Buruhonjaer village in Simdega’s Bano block, is associated with Biura Farmer Producer Company.
“Earlier, most farmers depended on local traders and nearby markets,” she says. “We had limited options, so we mostly accepted whatever price was offered. There was always the fear that the mangoes would go to waste if they weren’t sold quickly.”
Dewant adds, “Our FPO aggregates mangoes from different farmers and connects them with suitable markets. We also receive information about buyer requirements, which gives us much more confidence.”
That confidence has entered conversations within families and villages as well.
“Earlier, women mainly worked in the orchards while the men handled the selling,” Dewanti says. “Now we are participating in discussions about farming and marketing. We understand markets better and have become more confident in taking decisions.”
Amrapali and Mallika mangoes became popular for their flavour, regular fruiting and ability to withstand long-distance transportation.
One moment stayed with her.
“When I heard that mangoes from our villages had reached the international market through our FPO, I felt incredibly proud. We had never imagined that fruit grown here could travel to another country. I would encourage other women farmers to join such initiatives because when women come together, they create better opportunities not only for themselves but for their families and their entire community,” she says.
From Simdega to markets overseas
After months of preparation, the first test came in May 2026.
On 13 May, the first consignment left Simdega for Handia in Allahabad, helping farmers and FPOs understand procurement, aggregation, packaging and long-distance transportation.
Less than three weeks later, on 2 June 2026, Simdega’s first export consignment was shipped to England. A second followed on 16 June to Italy.
“Bringing together all these partners was one of the biggest tasks,” says Tarak Nath. “District administrations and JSLPS mobilised farmers, FPOs aggregated produce, PRADAN built farmers’ capacities and organised buyer-seller meetings, while APEDA, exporters and logistics partners guided us on export standards, packaging and transportation. The initiative showed that when government institutions, community organisations and private buyers work together, even small farmers can access high-value markets.”
The programme now covers all 24 districts of Jharkhand, nearly 12,000 villages, 3,300 gram panchayats (village councils) and 264 blocks. Of these, 5,231 villages have reached the production stage, and around 46,586 women farmers are directly benefiting from orchards that have started bearing fruit.
A network of 37 FPOs representing 11,347 member farmers supports aggregation, value addition and marketing. Together, they have exported 15.8 metric tonnes of Amrapali mangoes through nine consignments.
These include 3.5 metric tonnes from Gumla to Dubai and Italy, one metric tonne from Deoghar to Dubai, six metric tonnes from Ramgarh to London and Dubai, 1.6 metric tonnes from Simdega to London and Italy, 1.2 metric tonnes from Jamshedpur to London, and 1.5 metric tonnes from Lohardaga to Dubai.
FPOs are also connecting farmers with organised buyers and retailers including Agri Arjuna AI, Apna Mart, Sabri AI, KissanSay, Urvi Mart, Amrai, BigBasket, Blinkit and Reliance, along with urban markets such as Ranchi. Farmers now have several options during harvest season instead of depending on a single local buyer.
“The success of this initiative is not only about exports,” says Tarak Nath. “It is about helping families earn from productive assets created on their own land. The income is supporting children’s education, healthcare and nutrition. At the same time, women are leading producer organisations and showing that agriculture can become a dignified and sustainable livelihood.”
For Jiwanti, the training changed the way she looked at the fruit growing outside her home.
Back in Birnibera, the mango trees outside Jiwanti’s home look much the same as they did years ago. The difference begins after the fruit leaves the branch.
A mango that once might have waited for a local trader can now travel across Jharkhand, to another part of India, or thousands of kilometres overseas.
For Jiwanti, that means months of work no longer end with mangoes rotting beneath the trees. They can end with a buyer, a fairer price and an income her family can count on.
All pictures courtesy PRADAN.
