18 May 2022, Chandigarh: Union Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Mr. Kailash Choudhary said that we can bring revolution in agriculture through Farmer Producer Organization (FPO). He said that the farmer himself has to set up his own unit by marketing, sorting, grading etc. his crop to increase his income.
The Minister was addressing the representatives of CBBOs and FPOs present in the regional conference organized for Cluster Based Business Organizations (CBBOs) and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) under the Government of India’s plan for formation and promotion of 10,000 FPOs held in Panchkula today. On this occasion, Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Mr. JP Dalal was also present.
FPOs to make farmers self-reliant while doubling their income- Mr. Choudhary
Mr. Choudhary said that today in this meeting we have provided a platform to the representatives of CBBO and FPO to solve the problems among themselves so that the farmers can generate new ideas and their income can be increased by adding technology. He said that apart from FPO representatives and CBBO representatives from Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, farmers and representatives have also joined today’s meeting virtually. He said that in the direction of making farmers self-reliant and doubling their income, the Prime Minister has emphasized on “Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas-Sabka Vishwas-Sabka Prayas” and FPOs have an important role to implement this work and CBBO can play its supporting role in this task.
To take advantage of the amount of equity grant, farmers will have to be added to the FPO as per the condition – Choudhary
Mr. Choudhary said that by organizing such conferences, work is being done to change the guidelines as per the suggestions coming from CBBO and FPO. He said that in plain states, a CBBO has to be formed with 300 farmer members and a CBBO has to be formed with 100 farmer members in hilly states, then only the equity grant amount will be available to these FPOs. He said that elections are also necessary to organize all these FPOs and only after the general body meeting, the amount of equity grant will be available to the FPOs, so CBBOs will have to make FPOs by doing target based work.
More and more farmers should be added to FPOs- Mr. Choudhary
Mr. Choudhary called upon the CBBO representatives to get the small farmers to do the work of grading, sorting etc. of their crops and also prepare the CBBO project report for setting up the units and also use expertise of experts. He said that CBBO will have to involve more and more farmers in FPO for the upliftment of farmers, only then maximum benefit will be available and in this direction, the example of Amul is in front of us, how Amul has revolutionized the production of milk. Profit has been created and every milk producer has also got its benefit. Similarly, we can create bigger and bigger FPOs in fruits and vegetables. He asked the CBBO representatives to take the cooperation of public representatives in their field of work and call upon the farmers to join the FPOs.
Take advantage of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund – Mr. Choudhary
He said that FPOs can also take the benefit of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and get it to the farmers. In this, a provision of Rs. 2 crore has been made for the purchase of Sorting, Grading, Polyhouse, Drone and Machinery etc. This fund can be taken for 7 years and with 3 percent discount in interest. He said that the Government of India has also given relaxation in drone technology, in which up to 75 percent discount is given. He said that in the year 2014, the budget of agriculture was only Rs. 23,000 crores, which has now increased to Rs.1.32 lakh crores. He said that 1000 mandis have been linked with e-NAM and arrangements have been made to link FPOs with e-NAM.
Government of India has set a target of setting up 10,000 FPOs – Mr. J.P. Dalal
Earlier, Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Mr. JP Dalal said that Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi has set a target that the economic condition of the farmers of the country should improve and farmers should get their rights and change their lives. In the same direction, the Government of India has set a target of setting up 10,000 FPOs. He said that the Prime Minister has taken care of the small and marginal farmers and has done the work of promoting collective farming so that the small and marginal farmers do not face any kind of problem for their farming.
In Haryana also 600 to 700 FPOs have been formed- Mr. J. P. Dalal
Referring to Haryana, he said that 600 to 700 FPOs have already been formed in Haryana. He said that if farmers join through FPO, then the condition and direction of the farmer will change. By doing collective farming, small farmers do not have to face the problem regarding fertilizers and seeds etc. Apart from this, such farmers also get benefit from the value-addition of their crop.
While setting up FPO, such arrangement will have to be made that all farmers get equal benefits – Mr. Dalal
He said that we have to make such arrangements while setting up FPOs that all farmers should get equal benefits and especially small and marginal farmers. Apart from this, it can also be seen by auditing the income of small and marginal farmers and if it becomes successful then no one can stop India from progressing in agriculture.
Haryana will implement the upcoming schemes and policies for the upliftment of farmers in future- Mr. Dalal
While assuring the Union Minister, Mr. Dalal said that Haryana is the first to implement the schemes implemented by the Union government and in future also the upcoming schemes and policies will be implemented for the upliftment of farmers. He said that Haryana is doing good work in the field of fisheries and fisheries farmers here are earning lakhs of rupees, so he urged the Union Minister that the fisheries sector should also get benefits in setting up FPOs.
Earlier, Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Dr. Vijaya Lakshmi highlighted of this scheme being run by the Central Government.
The dignitaries were welcomed by and honoured by Director General, Haryana Horticulture Department, Mr. Arjun Saini who also presented them with bouquets
