Organisation Profile : Mango Nurseries

In the last couple of years, we have bought over 10,000 mango saplings from a couple of nurseries in Tamil Nadu. Although there are a lot of nurseries but only a handful have been in the business for generations. Like most businesses, new clients are established by word of mouth. When we were looking for suppliers, we were recommended a few well established, big nurseries in Salem and Dindigul.

If you think of a renowned nursery in Salem that has been in the business for over 3 generation, only one supplier would really fit the bill. We are not going to name the nursery. Unfortunately, our experience was not as stellar as their market reputation seems to be. In 2011, we were in the midst of developing our farm. After placing the order (and advance) with this nursery, we had to push out the pick up date by two weeks. We were repeatedly assured that our saplings were available and may be picked up at our convenience. However, at the time of pick up we were informed of a sudden storm / heavy monsoon which had damaged the saplings. Since our inception in 2010, we cannot recall any heavy or damaging monsoon activity and we called his bluff. Later we heard anecdotes that our saplings were sold to another client, possibly who was willing to pay more and pick it up right away. We did not do business with them again.

The second nursery we procured Mango saplings from is a few kilometers from Batlagundu in Dindigul district. We have been happy with the quality although we saw greater mortality in the bigger plants compared to the smaller ones. Based on subsequent discussions, we concluded that seed quality is key to a sapling's ability to endure field transplantation trauma. If possible, one should always try to check robustness of seed stock being used by the nursery. The proprietor of this nursery is easy to get along and so far has kept his word with quality and timely delivery. While the rates may tend to be pretty fixed and on the higher side, the travel distance was much shorter for us. Overall, we would recommend them.

Those of you who have procured saplings from other nurseries, feel free to share your feedback to benefit others. For specific questions on the above commentary, feel free to contact us directly.

Organization Profile : Jain Irrigation

Vendor Profile :
When we started out in 2011, we decided to drip irrigate our entire farm due to the enormous savings in water, power and labour. We invited multiple drip irrigation solution providers and eventually decided to settle with Jain Irrigation. Savera Farms may be their larger non-institutional client in Sivangagai and immediate districts. Having worked with them for over 3 years, we now have a fairly good sense of their strengths and weaknesses.

Good  Stuff :
Jain Irrigation has a fairly good presence in this area owing to Shakti Sugars. However, they have recently closed their office in Pilloor on Sivagangai-Madurai road. Jain Irrigation recruits quite a few young energetic diploma holders for their site installation projects, however deeper domain knowledge is required. They have been fairly successful in penetrating government funded subsidy programs. They are well penetrated in the local district agriculture or horticulture department so there is a good chance the agri officer will recommend Jain products. Upper management has been accessible based in Udumalpet, Tamil Nadu. There have been instances when we have escalated to their VP and they have assisted with expediting various resolutions and installation delays.

Not Excited About :
Over the years our satisfaction levels have started to dip significantly. Their local area depot closed down in Sivagangai due to weakening sales. The local dealership has essentially become a shell with most items not in stock. The local office stocks minimal inventory and sometimes have to source materials from as far as Jalgaon Maharashtra. There has been a lot attrition/re-assignment of on-site staff lately and we have had to work with a new / different coordinator every 3-4 months. Company organization and middle management has seen significant re-assignment as well. Amusingly, we once had an agronomist doing collection of outstanding balances.
Although they claim to be the cheapest in the market, one should be careful to take their designs on face value. Cheapest/minimal amount of pipes may not be best option for every farm. For instance, their initial design was to irrigate our Mango and intercrop fodder with the same submain pipes. The benefit is that you can service two crops with one submain pipe, but the downside is you cannot control the irrigation/fertigation etc. So while a two submain pipe is more costly, you can control the irrigation based on need of the crop. After all, we are doing precision irrigation, aren’t we ? You have to make the entire system user friendly, even though that may cost you a couple more master valves to control a certain segment of the farm. I did not see these ideas coming from them since they had a single point agenda – reduction of cost!

Overall, Jain Irrigation has been a long term partner with Savera Farms. They have made valuable contributions but doing business with them has not always been smooth. We have had to spearhead several issues and escalate to the upper management. Since most of their business is subsidy based, prompt installation has not been a priority. We have been called a demanding customer, not sure it that is a compliment or if we are stretching them a little too much!

**Disclaimer**
The above views are based solely on Savera Farm experiences with this vendor.
Readers may take our feedback into account but must make their independent assessments.
The vendor has not sponsored or directly attempted to influence this commentary.
Reviewed vendors may contact us directly for corrections or concerns if needed.