In India, nearly 70% of farming households in India are small and marginal. An average farmer earns a little more than ₹10,000 per month and nearly half of all farmers are estimated to be in debt. Most farms are rain-fed and exposed to climate risks. Small and marginal farmers operate with big disadvantages in terms of scale, diversification of crops, potential price risks, and bargaining power.
FPO is an organization, where the members are farmers. Farmers Producers Organization provides end-to-end support and services to small farmers and covers technical services, marketing, processing, and other aspects of cultivation inputs.
FPCs, introduced in 2000, are a viable ‘new age’ option to address some of these challenges while maintaining India’s present welfare equilibrium. Operating on the long-standing welfare model of ‘collectivization’, FPCs function under the Companies Act of 2013, wherein shareholding farmers pool resources for better market linkages.