Govt likely to announce credit guarantee fund for FPOs in Budget

18 Feb 2013 Evaluate

The government is likely to announce a credit guarantee fund in the coming Budget for Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) with equity participation to boost small and marginal farmers. FPO is typically a company comprising only farmers and producers, formed under the Companies Act. The role of FPOs in alleviating the plight of small and marginal farmers has also been recognized by the government’s National Advisory Council (NAC).

As per the working group of the NAC, FPOs are a necessity in the Indian environment, if one has to effectively address issues such as shrinking land, difficulty in accessing critical inputs like fertiliser and credit, a fragmented value chain, weak bargaining with market agents and low return on investments.

By June, government targets to have 500 FPOs, with a combined membership of almost 10 lakh farmers. However, there are almost 60 crore farmers in the country who can be brought under the FPO umbrella. Presently, there are close to 300 FPOs, covering a little over 500,000 farmers. The Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC), which is promoted by the department of agriculture, is to act as a nodal agency to provide support for creation of FPOs.

Meanwhile, FPOs are being mobilized by the network of about 25 grassroots non-governmental organizations and takes six to nine months for an FPO to get registered. However, the biggest problem they face since inception in the past decade has been access to funds.

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