FPOs urged to serve farmers well, weed out brokers

Anantapur: Horticulture Commissioner Chiranjeevi Chowdary said that the State government is committed to strengthen the Farmers Producers Organisations (FPOs) which would enable farmers to fix remunerative price for their produce and market them.

Addressing a meeting of FPO executives of the Rayalaseema region here on Friday, Chiranjeevi stated that several middlemen, who are purchasing from farmers, are earning more than the producers and exploiting the farmers thereby.

The FPOs are created to reverse the trend and make farmers masters of their own produce in deciding their own selling price and marketing their produce unitedly with an integrated approach.

He said that the farmers should invest less and get higher yield. The farmers should purchase seeds and fertilisers from certified agencies and also get their soil tested to determine suitability of the crop to the soil.

If quality seeds are used it would ensure higher yield. The Horticulture Commissioner called upon FPOs to establish custom hiring centres and procure farm mechanisation equipment and also earn revenue by giving the equipment on hire to co-farmers.

He called upon the NGOs to give support to FPOs and strengthen them in order to make them effective. The Commissioner said that he would recommend to government to extend 75 per cent subsidy on establishment of pack houses and green houses if FPOs come forward to establish them.

District Collector Kona Sasidhar asked FPOs to adopt latest farm technology and boost their production with cost-effective techniques. He said that Putluru and Ellanuru mandals farmers are earning handsomely on horticulture crops.

On an average, each horticulture farmer is earning Rs 1.86 lakh on their produce per year, he added. The Collector said that by next kharif season, Hundri Neeva water would be brought to the district to fill up village tanks for recharging ground water in the district.

He said that there are 209 FPOs operating in the district and hoped that they will succeed in fulfilling its primary objective.