High-level study group to improve farmer producer organizations in Tamil Nadu: Central Government

Tamil Nadu: The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has constituted a high-level committee on Wednesday to examine the functioning of Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs) in Tamil Nadu and suggest ways to improve them. This includes FPOs dealing with bananas, turmeric, coconuts, and other crops.

Press Release Details:

Recently, the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, visited Erode and surrounding areas. During this visit, he met and interacted with farmers and stakeholders. The operational, technical, and market-related challenges faced by the FPOs were brought to the attention of the Union Minister. Based on these inputs, the Ministry of Agriculture took immediate action and approved the constitution of a high-level committee to suggest appropriate measures.

This high-level committee will review the activities of FPOs in Tamil Nadu and suggest ways to improve their number and effectiveness.

To ensure a comprehensive and ground-level assessment, the committee comprises representatives from NABARD, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India, Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium, Tamil Nadu Chapter, ICAR – National Research Centre for Banana, Agricultural Producers Federation, NGOs, and officials from the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

The group will focus specifically on crop varieties including bananas, turmeric, coconuts, and cassava, as well as natural and organic farming practices.

The committee will examine issues including governance, management practices, business operations, technical support, linkages, integration, value addition, marketing, challenges, and capacity building of the FPOs.

The committee will undertake field visits and consult with farmer producer organizations, their member farmers, market functionaries, and other stakeholders to ensure that the recommendations are based on ground realities. The committee will submit its final report within two months. It has also been stated that the National Research Centre for Banana in Trichy and the Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Hyderabad have been asked to provide all necessary assistance to the committee.