Farmer Producer Organization: How Farmers can get Benefit from it.

What is Farmer Producer Organization?

A Farmer Producer Organization (FPO) is a type of Producer Organization (PO) comprised of farmers. The PO is a producer-led organization that organizes any produce, such as non-farm products, agricultural products, artisan products, and so on. The Small Farmers' Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) assists in the promotion of FPOs.

Farmers' income and economic strength have improved as a result of the consolidation of marginal, small, and landless farmers as FPOs. It offers small farmers end-to-end services and support, including marketing, technical services, processing, marketing, and other aspects of cultivation inputs.

The FPO concept is that farmers who produce agricultural products can form groups and register themselves under the Companies Act of 2013.

The Ministry of Agriculture's Department of Agriculture and Cooperation has authorized the Small Farmers' Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) to assist state governments in the development of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). The initiative provides financial assistance to Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) up to a maximum of Rs. 18 lakh / FPO or actual, whichever is less, for three years from the year of establishment.

Features of FPO

• FPOs are non-profit organizations governed by farmer members who actively participate in decision-making and policy formulation.
• FPOs are open to anyone willing to accept the responsibilities of membership without regard for social, gender, political, racial, or religious differences.
• FPOs provide training and education to their farmer-members, managers, elected representatives, and employees so that they can effectively contribute to the FPOs' development.
• Cluster-Based Business Organizations (CBBO) promotes and forms FPOs, which are then engaged at the cluster or state level by implementing agencies.
• The FPOs are promoted under the 'One District One Product' initiative to encourage better branding and specialization, processing, marketing, and exports.
• The FPOs provide guidance and adequate training, while the CBBOs provide the initial training.
• Priority is given to the formation of FPOs in aspirational districts, with a minimum of one FPO in each aspirational district block.

Benefits of FPO

• Small and marginal farmers' share increased from 70% in 1980-81 to 86 percent in 2015-16, despite the declining average land-holding size. Farmers can be engaged by FPOs in addressing productivity issues, collective farming, and issues arising from small farm sizes. Because of the increased intensity of farming, may also result in the creation of additional jobs.
• Negotiating with corporations: Farmers can benefit from FPOs when bargaining with large corporate enterprises. It enables farmer members to bargain collectively and assist small farmers in both output and input markets.
• Aggregation economics: FPOs can provide member farmers with high-quality, low-cost inputs such as machinery purchases, crop loans, agri-inputs (pesticides, fertilizers, etc.), and direct marketing after agricultural produce procurement. It will allow members to save time, money, transaction costs, price fluctuations, quality maintenance, transportation, and so on.
• Social impact: FPOs' social capital will grow, improving women farmers' decision-making and gender relations. It will improve food, decrease social conflicts, and increase nutritional values in the community.

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