SFAC asked to set up more farmer producer organisations

Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh today asked the Small Farmers' Agribusiness Consortium to set up more number of farmer producer organisations across the country and give special attention in tribal areas and North East region.
Small Farmers' Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) was established in 1994 with a mission to link small farmers to investments, technology as well as markets in association with private, corporate or cooperative sector. It has been mandated to promote farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and their integration in agri value chain.
Addressing the the annual general meeting of the SFAC, Singh exhorted officers to "increase the pace of mobilisation of farmers into FPOs," an official statement said.

Stating that FPOs help farmers to link effectively to investments, technology and markets, the Minister said SFAC should pay special attention to districts with high population of tribals and the entire northeast region for the formation of FPOs.
The Minister also assured that enough funds would be made available to undertake this task.
SFAC has so far registered 243 FPOs, while another 451 are under formation. Over 6.72 lakh farmers have benefitted through these bodies.