Service Offering for Farmer Producer Organizations

Collectives of primary producers, especially small and marginal farmers, artisans, livestock rearers and fisher-folk etc. organized into Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) has emerged as one of the most sought-after pathways to address many challenges of agriculture and allied sectors faced by the smallholders. FPOs are thus primarily formed with a notion of using economies of scale in favour of the small and marginal members and facilitate accrual of better prices, lower transaction costs and reduce expenditure on inputs among other benefits to them.

However, majority of FPOs face a plethora of challenges in their path, like creating a well-governed organization to carry out desired functions efficiently and effectively, identifying appropriate business opportunities, incorporating business principles, ensuring statutory compliance’s, initiating collective enterprises etc. to provide its members better services and products on the one hand and create surplus for itself on the other. Moreover, deep appreciation of the local context aspects related to (i) need of the farmers (ii) rain-fed or irrigated agriculture, (ii) commodities of the area (e.g. single crop or multi crops), (iii) prevalent service ecosystem, (iv) niche products courtesy ecological farming, organic farming etc. are crucial to determine the growth perspective of the FPO..