India’s first FPO under Cooperative Societies Act

India’s first Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) under the ambit of the Cooperative Societies Act has been registered in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh. It is a green chilli and mushroom processing unit. 

A press release issued by National Cooperative Develpment Corporation (NCDC) says, this FPO was registered under the name of “Krishak Utpadak Sanghthan Evam Audyanik Viparan Sahkari Samiti” in village Tikri under Kashi Vidyapeeth Block of Varanasi on February 26, 2021. It will be set up for processing high-value vegetable products. The focus commodities of the FPO are mushroom and green chilli.

Formed by a group of farm producers, FPO is a registered body with producers as shareholders of the organisation. It deals with business activities related to farm produce and works for the benefit of member producers.

Generally, the FPOs are registered under the Companies Act. However, this is the first time that such an entity has been established under the Cooperative Societies Act as part of the Government’s Central Sector Scheme titled “Formation and Promotion of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)” to form and promote 10,000 new FPOs. The scheme was launched by the Prime Minister on February 29 last year aiming to bring more and more small and marginal farmers on a bigger platform as a joint entity to help them become aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) in the long run.

On the occasion of the first anniversary of the scheme on March 1, Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, said that emphasis has been laid on bringing strategic interventions into the existing marketing system and bringing about farmer-centric reforms aiming towards rapid agricultural development. Terming the scheme as a game-changer in the country’s agriculture eco-system, the Minister said that the “target is to set up 10,000 FPOs with every block at least having one each. We will ensure that each FPO is a role model in itself so that other farmers can also take inspiration from them.”

He was speaking at a virtual event held on the occasion in the presence of his colleague Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, besides senior officials from the concerned departments from the Ministry.

One of the implementing agencies of the scheme, the National Cooperative Development Cooperation (NCDC), an apex finance entity under the Union Agriculture Ministry, will handhold the FPO for the next five years in establishing the multi-service centre facilities for mushroom production and cultivation. Also, a full-fledged laboratory will be developed wherein farmers will be imparted training on the production of mushroom. The green chilli drying system has to be improved by setting up dryers with vacuum nitrogen drying capacities.

Sundeep Nayak, Managing Director of the NCDC, said that the farmers in the country were keen to set up FPOs as it would help them boost their income and make them self-sustaining. This is just the beginning, he said, adding that the Government has plans to form and promote 10,000 new FPOs in the country for which a budgetary provision of Rs 6,865 crore has been made. “The Government aims at transforming agriculture into a sustainable enterprise through FPOs,” Nayak said.

On January 1, 2021, the Union Agriculture Ministry had released new operational guidelines for setting up and promotion of 10,000 FPOs in the country by 2023-24.