Farmer Producer companies in India: Road map to ensure sustainability

Book excerpt: In India, a significant majority of farmers, specifically small and marginal ones, hold 86 percent of operational land and cover 47 percent of the operating area. These farmers encounter challenges in production and post-production stages, such as accessing technology, quality inputs at reasonable prices, seed production, custom hiring, value addition, processing, credit, investments, and crucially, markets. Farmer producer companies (FPOs) are emerging as effective tools for building integrated value chains, aiming to address these challenges and ensure better income for farmers. While around 7,000 FPOs were registered by 2019, many became defunct. Learning from this, the government initiated the promotion of 10,000 FPOs with various incentives in the 2018-19 budget. These measures, including equity support, credit guarantees, and expense coverage, aim to create sustainable FPOs, contingent on effective management, financial literacy, profitability, and tangible benefits for members. The book focuses on evaluating the performance and sustainability of Farmer Producer Companies through 16 chapters, offering valuable insights for stakeholders such as FPOs, policymakers, agro-entrepreneurs, bankers, and agricultural students.