Govt achieves goal of setting up of 10,000 farmer producer organisations

The government on Friday said it has achieved the target of establishing 10,000 farmer producer organisations (FPOs) under a flagship central scheme.

The 10,000th FPO, registered in Khagaria district in Bihar, focuses on maize, banana and paddy and was launched recently by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The central scheme for Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs" was launched on February 29th 2020 with a budget outlay of Rs 6,865 crore till 2027-28.

According to the agriculture ministry, the successful formation of 10,000 FPOs marks a "transformative milestone for the agriculture sector."  This achievement not only boosts agricultural productivity and income but also contributes to rural job creation and economic resilience.

"As India moves forward, the continued support and expansion of FPOs will be instrumental in shaping a self-reliant, efficient, and prosperous agricultural ecosystem," the ministry said in a statement.

Since the launch, Rs 254.4 crore in equity grants has been released to 4,761 FPOs and credit guarantee cover worth Rs 453 crore has been issued to 1,900 FPOs.

Approximately 30 lakh farmers in the country are connected to FPOs, with around 40 per cent of them being women. These FPOs are now conducting business worth thousands of crores in the agricultural sector, it said.

Under the scheme, new FPOs were given handholding support for five years and financial assistance of Rs 18 lakh each towards management cost for three years.

Additionally, the FPOs were provided with a matching equity grant up to Rs 2,000 per farmer member of FPO with a limit of Rs 15 lakh per FPO and a credit guarantee facility up to Rs 2 crore of project loan per FPO from eligible lending institutions to ensure institutional credit accessibility to FPOs.

FPOs are incorporated/ registered either under Part IXA of Companies Act or under Co-operative Societies Act of the concerned States and formed for the purpose of leveraging collectives through economies of scale in production and marketing of agricultural and allied sector.