Mineral Springs Cooperative
The Mineral Springs Cooperative, also referred to as Sanjukta Vikas Cooperative, was one of the first small farming initiatives in the plantation-controlled region of Darjeeling. The land that cooperative members live on was a tea plantation in the early part of the century but abandoned in the 1950s. The community has since depended mostly upon subsistence farming of corn, millet, potatoes, and vegetables. Today, they are a dairy cooperative of 450 small farmers who also export high-quality, organic Fair Trade tea with the technical assistance and training of a local non-governmental organization, and the processing and marketing assistance of Tea Promoters India. They further support the environment with their commitment to farming using biodynamic, organic, and permaculture farming techniques.
