Sahkar se Samriddhi: Govt assigns NCDC task of forming additional FPOs

In order to realize Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of “Sahkar se Samriddhi” and Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah’s resolution to execute it, a decision has been taken to form 1100 New Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) in the Cooperative Sector, reads a press release issued by the govt news agency PIB.

A target of forming these 1100 additional FPOs has been allocated to National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare under its ‘Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs’ scheme.

Under the FPO Scheme, financial assistance of Rs 33 lakhs are provided to each FPO. Further, financial assistance of Rs 25 lakhs per FPO is provided to the Cluster Based Business Organizations (CBBO).

Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), which have a member base of around 13 crore farmers and are primarily engaged in short-term credit and distribution of seeds, fertilizers, etc. will now be able to undertake other economic activities as well.

Integration of PACS in the FPO scheme will enable them to expand their business in the areas of supply of production inputs; agricultural equipment like cultivator, tiller, harvester, etc. and processing, including cleaning, assaying, sorting, grading, packing, storage, transportation, etc.

PACS are primarily engaged in short-term credit and distribution of seeds, fertilizers, etc., now they will be able to undertake other economic activities including high income generating activities like bee-keeping, mushroom cultivation, etc.

“This, along with various other initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Cooperation under the leadership of Amit Shah for the strengthening of the cooperative movement in the country, will enable the cooperative sector in general and PACS in particular, to generate alternative sources of revenues for their members, thus transforming themselves into viable, dynamic and financially sustainable economic entities”, claimed a PIB release.

It bears recalling that in order to form and promote FPOs in uniform and effective manner so as to achieve the target of formation of 10,000 new FPOs in 5 years and to make the FPOs economically sustainable, initially three Implementing Agencies, namely, SFAC, NCDC and NABARD, shall be responsible to form and promote FPOs. Later on, several other organizations such as NDDB, NAFED, etc will join the campaign.

NAFED has so far successfully registered 421 FPOs mobilizing around 1,08,000 farmers during FY 2021-22. The Central Sector Scheme for “Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)” to form and promote 10,000 new FPOs has a total budgetary outlay of Rs.6865 Crores.

Under the said Central Sector Scheme, Implementing Agencies have been allocated a total of 4965 FPO produce clusters, out of which a total of 2315 number of FPOs have been registered in the country, he said.