FPO Mela held at National Cooperative Development Corporation

An FPO fair was organised by National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) and Small Farmers Agriculture Trade Association (SFAC) on October 19-20 at the headquarters of National Cooperative Development Corporation in New Delhi.

The fair was inaugurated by Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in the presence of Managing Director, Small Farmers Agri-Business Association (SFAC), Executive Director NCDC and Chief Director NCDC. Major Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) of the country participated in the fair. Various products of more than 40 FPOs were exhibited in this fair. This fair was visited by more than 1000 people through which the visitors got a new experience of natural and organic products.

FPO is a group of farmers who do economic and business activities related to crop production and farming in their area. FPOs produce the crop, process it and sell in the market. Through this income of farmers associated with FPO gets a new impetus. In order to facilitate farmers' access to markets during the fair, all FPOs have been included on the ONDC platform.

Goods prepared by farmer producer organizations like mustard oil, groundnut oil, groundnut butter, amla murabba, basmati rice, mushrooms, spices, chana dal, moong dal, ragi biscuits, millet namkeen, millet laddu, millet biscuits, gram flour, Sattu, Ghee, Honey, Katiya Wheat Dalia, Multigrain Flour, Pickles (Mango, Fig, Jackfruit, Mixture, Bajra-(finger, Barnyard), Squash-(Orange, Amla), Mandua Flour, Spices, Kakhya, Makhana Raw , Makhana Atta, Makhana Kheer Mix, Makhana Vita, Makhana Baby Food, Desi Rice Chura, Bamboo Products:- (Pen Holders, Wall Decor and Bamboo Wood Art) Millets - Khakhra, Methi Rotla, Jaggery Rotla, Multi Millet – Khakhra, Amla Candy, Garlic Powder, Flakes, Garlic Namkeen, Apple, Saffron, Mix Dry Fruits, Walnut Almond, Dry Apricot, Red Rice, Black Wheat, Black Salt Rice, Katarni Poha, Katarni Rice etc. were displayed.

Visitors appreciated and liked the products and a good amount of people also made purchases. Almost all the FPO's goods were sold and on getting good prices, new energy was infused among the farmers. The fair hashelped all the FPO in getting recognition at national level.

According to an estimate, most of the small and marginal farmers in India need support for production and post-production activities like access to technology, quality inputs at reasonable prices, seed production, farming machinery, value added products, processing, credit, investment and most importantly market for the product. Thus, collectivisation of such producers through formation of FPOs is providing an opportunity to address these challenges and increase their income.

FPO Mela program was attended by Archana Verma, Mission Director, National Water Mission, Annis Joseph Chandra, MD, NCCF, Thampi Kosi, MD & CEO, ONDC, Dr. Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, Chairman, KRIBHCO, Kuldeep Singh, CMD, Hindustan Insecticides Limited, TK Manoj Kumar, Chairman, WDRA, Dheeraj Sahu, Joint Secretary, WDRA, Mukesh Kumar, Arun Kumar Srivastava, Member (WDRA) and other dignitaries.