Context

• This article highlights how Eastern Uttar Pradesh has emerged as a hub of vegetable and fruit exports in the past two years and the role of FPOs of the region.

• In recent years, Farmer Producers’ Organizations(FPOs) have been formed to counter the challenge of fragmented holdings.

About FPOs

• An FPO is a collective of farmers who have holdings or work in a geographical cluster. 
• It can be registered under the Companies Act or as a cooperative under the Societies Registration Act. 
• FPOs have demonstrated their potential to trigger cluster-based farming, bringing in economies of scale in input management facilitating agri-extension, enabling technology adoption, providing quality assurance and helping farmers market their produce.
• The Centre’s scheme to form and promote 10,000 FPOs envisages collaboration amongst farmers in activities like input management. 
• Such cooperation can enhance the capacities of agriculturists, help in value addition and facilitate the creation of links with markets.

UP and FPOs

Significant outcomes of the above measures

• FPOs are playing a pivotal role in crop diversification and value addition. 
• Hundred FPOs have established seed processing units in UP. 
  • Several of these units sell their seeds in the open market; others have signed MOUs with state and National Seed Corporations for buy-back arrangements. 
• Many FPOs have established Farm Machinery Banks which provide farm mechanization services at reasonable rents which contribute to managing paddy stubble. 
• Climate resilient strategies like direct seeding of rice are being channelised through FPOs.
• FPOs are working to improve nutrition by developing the value chain of high-nutrient agri-products like millets, mushrooms, moringa and fortified cereals. 
  • For example, in Rampur, the FPO collaborated with the district administration for the “Aahaar Se Upchar Tak” campaign to supply nutrition-rich products to anganwadi kendras. Their efforts led to an improvement in nutritive outcomes in the area.
• FPOs have entered into dealership agreements for seeds, fertilizers and agri tech. 
• FPO outfits have succeeded in registering local products under GI — these include Adam Chini rice, Banarasi langra, jaggery, Ramnagar (Varanasi) Bhanta (Brinjal) and Banarasi pan.