The Ministry of Agriculture has said that the government has launched a new Central Sector Scheme titled ‘Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Produce Organizations (FPOs)’.
- FPOs are to be developed to produce clusters, wherein agricultural and horticultural products are grown for leveraging economies of scale and improving market access for members.
- Under this Central Sector Scheme with funding from Government of India, formation and Promotion of FPOs are to be done through implementing agencies.
- Implementing agencies will engage Cluster- Based Business Organizations (CBBOs) to aggregate, register and provide professional handholding support to each FPO for a period of five years.
- CBBOs will be the platform for an end to end knowledge for all issues related to FPO promotion.
- FPOs will be provided financial assistance upto Rs 18 lakh per FPO for a period of three years.
- Provision has been made for matching equity grant up to two thousand rupees per farmer member of FPO with a limit of 15 lakh rupees per FPO and a credit guarantee facility upto Rs two crore of project loan per FPO from eligible lending institutions to ensure institutional credit accessibility to FPOs.
- Formation and promotion of FPOs is the first step for converting Krishi into Atma Nirbhar Krishi.
- This will enhance cost-effective production and productivity and higher net incomes to the members of the FPO.
- It will also improve rural economy and create job opportunities for rural youths in villages itself and this was the major step towards improving farmers’ income substantially.
(Source: AIR)
