1. Role of FPOs in Doubling Farmers’ Income
The Nava Jyoti Community in Rayagada district

2. Group Constitution
Chairperson:Smt. NeelkamakDarbari, Additional Chief Secretary (Agriculture), Govt. of Rajasthan
Co-Chairperson : I. Shri M.C. Thakkar, CGM, NABARD
II. Dr. Amar KJR Nayak, Professor, XIMB, Bhubaneswar
Moderator : Shri. Bhaskar Pant, DGM, NABARD
Participating States: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chandigarh, Chhhatisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerela, MP, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Delhi, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, TN Telangana, UP, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim, Goa

3. Overall Context Experiences of the different states
Various challenges of grounding & stabilizing FPOs
Diversity of different context across the country
FPO in the context of Marketing Ecosystem Facilitation (APLM Act 2017, Contract Farming, FPO Policy)
Efforts towards Convergence, Coordination & Cooperation

4. Key Issues for Discussions
What could be the optimal size in terms of no. of members & geographic spread of a primary level FPO?
(Frequency of interactions among members, ease of transactions and volume of transactions/business)
How can resources be converged at district level to facilitate and support to ground FPOs at the community/GP level?
What are the key Challenges faced in forming and stabilizing FPOs in different states under different contexts?
How should the primary level FPOs be registered? As cooperatives or as producer companies?
(Registration Fees, Audit & Filing fees, cost of legal compliances, challenges to small farmers: Transaction costs)
Shared the draft National Policy Guidelines on FPOs and suggestions sought from the participating states and delegates present.

5. What could be the optimal design in terms of no
What could be the optimal design in terms of no. of members & geographic spread of a primary level FPO?
Design Issues:
No. of members of an FPO (size of landholdings, surpus generated, economies of scale, interactions, & fraternity)
Geographic coverage of an FPO (urban, rural, topography in NE states)
FPOs are evolving, different sizes exist as of today & provisions to be provided accordingly.
In addition to individual producer/ farmers small producer groups, FIGs, CIGs, Farmers club and SHGs can be a member of a primary level FPO especially in larger GPs , NE and Hilly States.
While member of a primary level FPOs may be from one GP in most states for better convergence; in NE & hilly states, members be from contiguous GP or contiguous districts as the case may be.
Products and service mix to diversify risk & enhance returns
A 3-tier Institutional architecture in a district
Duration of handholding (5-7 years)
‘A’ class PACS may be restructed & upgraded to FPOs

6. How to meet the resource requirements of an FPO?
Resources required for Critical Areas:
Mobilization of producers/farmers
Capacity building and handholding
Need of trained Manpower to run the day-to-day operations of an FPO
Registration expenses
Basic infrastructures
Working Capital
Storage & Value addition
Sales & Marketing

7. Support Mechanism
Grant component up to Rs. 25 lakhs per primary level FPO
Matching equity grant up to Rs. 10 lakhs per primary level FPO
Support for setting up of common facility centres
FPO on behalf of members shall be eligible to get subsidy on pro-rata basis
Details to be provided in the Operation & Stabilization Fund Guideline of National FPO Policy.
Convergence of different schemes/ programmes through FPOs
States to modify relevant provisions (issue of procurement/ input licenses, etc..) for FPOs to avail.
Based on performance of different agencies, nodal agencies for implementation and monitoring may be selected in different regions.

8. How should the primary level FPOs be registered?
Cooperative
Producer Company
(as per Part I of Section IX A of Companies Act.)
State may decide on either type but maintain consistency across a district.
FPOs already registered under other legal forms may also be supported for a few years before they can be registerd as cooperative or producer company

9. How to ensure Sustainability?
Build ownership & cooperative spirit of members through a systematic mobilization, training and convergence of resources
Enable higher frequency of interactions among members by optimizing the cluster size of FPOs.
FPOs to engage in multiple activities (inputs, product and services, etc..) to ensure regular incomes to members and increaserinteractions among members.
Reduce Market transaction costs by optimising market distance; thereby increase net income to producers/farmers.
Sufficient provisions for systematic social capital formation along with adequate support for financial capital formation.
Convergence and Coordinationa among Ministries/Departments of Agriculture, Panchayati Raj and Rural Development (NRLM)
Develop a Comprehensive & Flexible FPO Policy

10. THANK YOU