FPOs: A solution to boost farmers' income and help soothe agrarian distress

Against a broad requirement of over 60,000 FPOs, India has managed to create just around 5,000 of them in last more than 10 years

For Birju Lal Parte, joining Maa Macha Crop Producer Company two-three years back was a live-saving decision.

The farmer-producer company (FPC), named after a local river, has provided the 39-year-old farmer from Doudi village in the Betul district — and many others — seeds at prices lower than in the market, and also bought all the maize he grew on his eight acres. The FPC sells maize to poultry firms in Punjab and Haryana, where it is used as cattle feed.

At a time when most crop prices have plummeted because of over production and low demand, joining an FPC