It’s a dusty September morning, and Kiran Devi is finishing her chores at lightning speed. “Wouldn’t it be nice to keep 5,000 women waiting, especially when it’s a celebration,” she says with a touch of gushing pride and makes her way to the annual general meeting of the women-owned Aaranyak Agri producer company.

Located in Purnea district in Bihar—one of India’s poorest states—the company is made up of small local women small farmers and producers and lies in the most fertile corn regions in eastern India.

But until recently, small farmers did not fully reap the benefits of this productive land. Local traders and intermediaries dominated the unregulated market.

Archaic and unfair trading practices like manual weighing, unscientific quality testing, and irregular payments made it difficult for small farmers to get the best value for their produce.

“The trader would come, put some grains under his teeth and pronounce the quality and pricing. — blog.wb.org/blogs