NABARD will take up the formation and strengthening of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) in the country this year on a campaign mode to help farmers realize better returns, said R K Thanvi, Chief General Manager, NABARD in a seminar in Jaipur on Thursday on the occasion of the 37th Foundation Day of the developmental bank. The event was celebrated in most of the Nabard’s offices across India.
NABARD has promoted about 4,000 FPOs during last three years across the country. In Rajasthan, NABARD has provided support for formation and nurturing of 272 FPOs engaged in agriculture & allied activities, he added.
“We now plan to roll out a roadmap for promotion & upscaling of FPOs in the state on mission mode during the current year to help them achieve commercial scale in their operations benefiting the farmers/member producers thereby bringing improvement in the quality of life of rural people”, stated Thanvi.
Chief Guest Padma Bhushan Dr. V S Vyas said that “due to fragmentation and disorganization, it is not economically viable for small and marginal farmers to adopt latest technology and use of high yielding varieties of inputs such as seeds and fertilizers, etc. Therefore, collectivizing farmers into Farmers’ Producer Organizations (FPOs) has been considered as one of the ways to procure inputs at a lower price and gain more selling power for their produce, Vyas underlined.
“Forming a producer organization can also provide access to timely and adequate farmers finance, build capacity and provide linkages to markets. This approach is demonstrating the potential to evolve farmers owned enterprises and in enabling their effective participation in agri value chain with better access to markets” said Dr Vyas.
Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) registered under the Companies Act have emerged as the most appropriate institutional form for mobilizing farmers and for their capacity building which will leverage their collective strength for their economic betterment. A Farmer Producer Company entails the spirit of a cooperative society with professional management.
Those present on the occasion included Special Guest Dr Vijay Veer Singh, Chair Professor – NITI Aayog and Dean – Department of Social Sciences, University of Rajasthan, Dr Ruhi Dahiya, President – Jyoti Vidhyapeeth Women’s’ University, Senior Officials of the National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM), Reserve Bank of India, State Level Bankers Committee, Commercial Banks, RRBs, Cooperative Banks, NGOs, Community Based Organizations, etc, said Nabard in a press release.
