Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) have been doing significant work in India. These FPOs are legal entities that are created when groups of farmers come together to achieve a specific set of aims. FPOs can be:

• A cooperative society / company / producer company / multi-state cooperative society / registered society and so on

• Distinguished by the goals they have

• Responsible for a wide range of services

FPOs can also be found in various sectors such as plantation, dairy, fisheries and so on. For now, let us look at FPOs in agriculture.

FPO models in India
India saw the genesis of FPOs in the 2000s due to a need to help small & marginal farmers with various kinds of support. To register an FPO, it must have a minimum ten individuals. As a legal entity, an FPO can avail loans, look for investments, enjoy tax benefits, and deliver diverse kinds of aid to its members.

An FPO can help in:

• All manners of activity related to production of crops – from sowing to harvesting

• Assistance for procuring of machinery & equipment

• Consultancy services for financial, technical, research activities

• Crop insurance

• Welfare measures

• Education, training, and other ancillary services

As of November 2023, there were 7,597 FPOs registered in India. And this number includes the organisations created under the aegis of several bodies such as NABARD, State government bodies, and so on.

Who facilitates the FPOs?
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC), and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), are a few of the government bodies that help farmers set up FPOs. There are a few more implementing agencies as specified by the government which has established a scheme to create 10,000 new FPOs by this year.

These implementing agencies retain the services of CBBOs or cluster-based business organisations that will provide all help and conduct the ‘onboarding’ activities for FPOs. These CBBOs could be any company that has been in existence for the last three years, and is a legal entity registered in India. Quite a few companies operating in the space of Agri-Tech have become CBBOs recently.

States like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Punjab have the top positions when it comes to number of FPOs.

Benefits of FPOs
Collective efforts to help small and marginal farmers can have a lot of positive impact in multiple ways. Along with the financial aid, resources, and information support, FPOs have helped farmer-members by:

• Increasing their bargaining power

• Getting access to better storage facilities

• Increasing farm productivity

• Enhancing income levels

• Ensuring better price realisations

• Minimising post-harvest losses and so on

Farmers also get easier access to platforms that promote government schemes and services. FPOs can also liaise on behalf of its members with the government and other public agencies to get water connection, electricity supply, fix problems of various kinds and so on.

Farmer Producer Organisations can be a huge asset to almost any farmer. From local markets to even exports – they give the small and marginal farmers a stronger, and larger platform to level the playing field in more ways than one.

#InterestingInfo

• 100 all-women Farmer Producer Companies are being promoted in a few states in India.

• Bihar has the maximum number of FPOs.