03 February 2021, Chandigarh:Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Mr. J.P Dalal said that the State Government is continuously working to increase the income of farmers. The Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium, Haryana (SFACH) has signed a contract with private companies for the purchase of 700 Metric Tonnes (MT) of Kinnow from farmers of Sirsa district for this year. He informed that Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) are being formed for this so that farmers can form groups and get good prices for their crops.
Mr. J.P Dalal informed that till date a total of 486 Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs) have been formed in Haryana and they have been registered under the Companies Act 2013. More than 76,000 farmers have been associated with these FPOs.
The Minister further informed that under recently announced new FPO Policy-2020 by the Government of India, efforts will be made to reach the target of forming 1000 FPOs by the year 2021-22. The Minister informed that these new FPOs will be formed on the basis of cluster approach in Haryana.
Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department, Mr. Devender Singh said that Additional Chief Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, on one hand the farmers are trained to do joint farming by forming FPOs, on the other the objective of SFACH is to ensure that the FPOs get fair prices of their crops. SFACH always aims to provide fertilizers and seeds to farmers at affordable rates.
He informed that work is continuing on the projects of 15 FPOs. A grant of Rs 45.64 crore is estimated to be released for these projects. After starting of these projects, horticulture farmers of Haryana after completing proper grading, packing and value addition of their produce will be able to increase their income by selling crops to different places and traders in the country through their FPOs.
Managing Director, The Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium, Haryana (SFACH), Dr. Arjun Singh Saini said that SFACH has made FPOs sign an MoU with All Fresh Supply Management Private Limited, Delhi for supply of Kinnow in different parts of the country. This company will purchase 100 MT of Kinnow from the FPO. The supply will start from meeting the demand of Kinnow received from Siliguri. Similarly, an MoU has been signed with BN International Company for the supply of 200 MT Kinnow in Delhi and various other cities. Besides this, 100 MT of Kinnow will be procured from FPO and will be supplied to Fresh Produce Value Creation Private Limited Company to meet the demand of Kinnow in Mumbai and various cities.
Likewise, SFACH has made FPOs sign another MoU with Uniclif Agri Business Private Limited for supply from Punjab to various cities. This company will purchase 200 MT of Kinnow from FPO. An MOU has been signed with Roshan Lal & Company which will purchase 100 MT of Kinnow. Not only this, FPO has sent 25 MT of Kinnow to Siliguri and Ahmedabad.
SFACH also has made FPOs to sign an MOU with Fresh Produce Value Creation Private Limited Company for a 10 tonnes strawberry crop from Hisar. Along with this, for next year, 50,000 strawberry plants of high quality are being brought from America for farmers of the State. Along with this, 27 women labourers have been trained in weeding and other work related to Kinnow. Under the Operation Green Campaign, SFACH has advised the FPO members for minimum use pesticides in the crop.
