E-governance service provider Common Service Centre Special Purpose Vehicle (CSC SPV) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for converting 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO) into Common Service Centres (CSC). This will benefit the farmers associated with FPOs registered under the ‘10,000 FPO Formation and Promotion Scheme’ as it will help them get citizen-centric services and increase employment opportunities in rural areas.
‘Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs’ is a Central Sector Scheme launched in the year 2020. It aims to increase the bargaining power of farmers, reduce the cost of production and increase the income of farmers through aggregation of their agricultural produce. CSC Scheme, which is one of the mission mode projects of the Digital India programme, is providing various services to farmers, including tele-consultation, crop insurance, e-pashu chikani, Kisan Credit Card and PM Kisan Yojanas.
Scheme for Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs
- The scheme was launched in February, 2020 in Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh) with a budgetary provision of Rs 6865 crore.
- More than 2200 FPO production clusters have been allocated for the formation of FPOs in the year 2020-21.
- Implementing Agencies (IAs) are engaging Cluster Based Business Organizations (CBBOs) to register and provide business support to each FPO for a period of 5 years.
- CBBOs will be a one stop information platform for all issues related to promotion of FPOs.
Financial Assistance
- Allocation of Rs. 18.00 lakh per FPO for a period of 3 years.
- Equity grant of Rs. 2000 per FPO (maximum Rs. 15 lakh per FPO) will be provided to each farmer member of the FPO.
- Provision of credit guarantee facility up to Rs. 2 crore per FPO from eligible lending institution has been made to ensure access to institutional credit to FPOs.
Significance
Increase in farmer’s income
- It will promote sale of produce from the farmers’ fields or farm gate itself, thereby increasing the income of farmers. • This will reduce marketing costs as a result of shortening the supply chain, thereby giving better returns to farmers.
Employment Generation
- It will provide more employment opportunities to rural youth and encourage more investment in infrastructure for marketing and value addition near the farm gate.