In Rajasthan, India, our Well Earth partner Swani Spice Mills works with 250 farmers across several villages to produce high quality, organic cumin seed (Cuminum cyminum). To ensure strict adherence to organic growing principles, Swani Spice deploys an agricultural support team that visits farmers and provides training and guidance on the most productive ways to produce an organic crop.
Traditionally, farmers hire local processors to bring threshing machines to the farms to separate seeds from the plant. But if the organically grown cumin seed comes on contact with pesticide contaminated processing equipment after the harvest, all of the farmers’ hard work to grow organically may be for naught.
Frontier partnered with Swani Spice to purchase two new threshing machines dedicated to organic cumin. Instead of hiring outside threshers, farmers pay a reduced price for threshing with machines built specifically to process cumin.
The results are that the organic cumin seed stays pure, quality and efficiency is improved, and farmers pay a third of what they had previously paid for threshing. It’s a win for the farmers, Frontier Co-op, and our customers. It's one of our simplest — and most effective — sustainability projects.