Anantapur: Minister Kannababu vows to strengthen Farmers Producers Organisations

Anantapur: Minister for Agriculture, Cooperation and Food Processing Kurasala Kannababu stated that he will strive to strengthen the Farmers Producers Organisations (FPOs) for using them as platform for marketing Agriculture and Horticulture produce. State government also plans to constitute Millets Board to promote millets cultivation in a big way and to revert the food eating practices of the common man back to millets, the minister said. Speaking to 'The Hans India' over telephone, Kannababu said due to the coronavirus pandemic, the action plan in this regard had been delayed.

The then, TDP government promised to grant FPOs for using them as seed capital. The Agriculture and Horticulture departments floated large number of Farmers Producers Organisations (FPOs) and Mutually Aided Cooperative Societies (MACS) for providing marketing infrastructure to farmers and organising them as an economic force. The objective of FPOs is collective marketing intervention by the farmers themselves. A record number of 230 FPOs and MACS had been registered.

Farmers complain that government has failed to release promised incentive of Rs 12 lakh to FPOs per year for three years. Each FPC has 500 to 1,000 members who have invested with a share capital from Rs 100 to Rs 1,000.

Basically, the company provides services to farmers on two fronts, one is supply of all agriculture inputs including quality seeds, pesticides and chemicals at the lowest manufacturing rate and secondly marketing their produce. Horticulture Deputy Director Subbarayudu told 'The Hans India' that the new government is yet to spell out its policy.