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New Delhi: The number of farmers on board the Centre’s scheme for the formation and promotion of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) has touched the 30 lakh mark in the country, with around 40 per cent of them being women, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Agriculture on Friday.
These FPOs are now conducting business worth thousands of crores in the agricultural sector, it said. FPOs aim to increase farmers’ income and provide small farmers with direct access to significant market benefits, bargaining power and improving market access.
Under this scheme, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 29, 2020, there is a provision for handholding support for a period of five years to each new FPO that is formed, and financial assistance to the tune of Rs.18 lakh to each FPO for meeting management costs for 3 years.
Additionally, matching equity grants 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 is also extended under the scheme, the statement said.
The scheme was launched with a budget outlay of Rs 6,865 crore till 2027-28. Since the launch of the scheme, 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.
Recently, on the occasion of the release of the 19th instalment of PM-KISAN in Bhagalpur, Bihar, Prime Minister Modi launched the 10,000th FPO which has been registered in the state’s Khagaria district and focuses on maize, banana, and paddy.
FPOs are registered entities formed to leverage collectives through economies of scale in the production and marketing of agricultural and allied sectors. The concept behind FPOs is that farmers, who are the producers of agricultural products, can form groups. To facilitate this process, the Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) was mandated by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, of the Ministry of Agriculture to support the state governments in their formation.
The “Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)” scheme was launched with the main focus on leveraging economies of scale in production and marketing with a view to enhancing productivity through efficient, cost-effective and sustainable resource use for ensuring sustainable income-oriented farming, thus helping in reduction of cost of farm production and increase in farmers’ income.
