Farmers, artisans should find innovative ways to market their produce, says ZP CEO

Farmers and artisans should not lone absorption connected accumulation of goods, but besides connected innovative marketing, packaging and advertizing of their produce. Value summation is the mode guardant for each types of products, Rahul Shindhe, CEO, Zilla Panchayat, said successful Belagavi connected Wednesday (March 18, 2026).

He was speaking aft inaugurating the ‘Outreach and Capacity Building Initiative to Create Opportunities for Growth and Exports successful Belagavi’ astatine the ZP hall.

He said that the ZP would enactment with Exim slope officers to make a level for farmers industries and artisans to amended marketplace their products. `It volition besides assistance them avail of benefits similar training, mentoring and subsidies and research export opportunities,’’ helium said He appealed to handicraftsmen, farmers, weavers, potters and different tiny location industries successful the district, and others to instrumentality vantage of it.

Mr. Shindhe said that determination were respective products successful Belagavi territory with immense imaginable for export, similar Khanapur pottery, Athani’s Kolhapuri footwear, Hukkeri Chikkalagudda kaudi, Sanjeevini saffron, and different items. However, artisans and husbandman were facing problems similar grooming and fiscal support. He said that Exim Bank would assistance them successful this regard.

Across the country, Exim Bank is providing grooming and recognition facilities to clusters of women’s associations, artisans, weavers, potters and farmers to undertake antithetic businesses. “Artisans of the territory should instrumentality vantage of this facility. At the aforesaid time, different banks should besides formulate a programme to assistance successful the aforesaid mode arsenic Exim Bank,” helium said.

Ravidas Pyage, Exim Bank Deputy General Manager (Grassroots Innovations Development), said that the Bank was providing assistance to tiny entrepreneurs arsenic good arsenic large-scale entrepreneurs. “We effort to assistance successful transforming tiny businesses into large-scale industries by providing grooming and recognition facilities. This outreach programme is aimed astatine unsocial products of Belagavi district,” helium said.

Mr Pyage recalled that Exim slope had provided handholding enactment to Bidri artisans, successful innovative design, export promotion, e-commerce, packaging and successful promoting internships nether maestro trainers, isolated from fiscal support.

Later, Exim Bank officials interacted with members of self-help groups, farmers, weavers, potters and different handicraft workers from assorted taluks of the district, including Khanapura, Hukkeri, Ramadurga, Chikkodi, Athani, Raybag, Gokak, and informed them astir the mode successful which the slope would supply assistance.

Studying marketplace trends

H.D. Kolekar, Deputy Director of Agriculture Department said that assorted departments had promoted 73 husbandman nutrient organisations successful the district. “Around ₹30 crore was distributed to arsenic galore arsenic 1,148 families nether Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme. The caller Karnataka fund has acceptable speech ₹100 crore for secondary agriculture for worth summation and allied sectors,” helium said.

Veteran handicrafts promoter G.N. Gopikrishna advised farmers to survey marketplace trends and absorption connected worth addition. He said that determination was an accrued involvement astir Emmer wheat, Belgaum Basmati and Sankeshwar chilli. He said the Khanapur pottery and Kolhapuri chappals from Athani had large marketplace potential.

Exim Bank Deputy Managers Ganesh Ram and Prince Mehra gave details of the antithetic kinds of services offered by the fiscal institution. They interacted with representatives of industries and FPOs and SHGs .

Zilla Panchayat Project Director Ravi Bangareppanavar, Assistant Project Officer Bhagyashree Jahagiradar, Lead Bank Manager Prashanth Godake, Deputy Director of Horticulture Department Prashanth Muragoda, husbandman shaper companies, members of self-help groups from assorted taluks of the district, artisans, farmers and others were present.