ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana

As per the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA) circular, a seven-member committee was constituted by the Honourable Minister for Agriculture and Farmers welfare Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan to examine the issues affecting Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) in Tamil Nadu and recommend suitable remedial measures. As part of this initiative, the ICAR–National Research Centre for Banana (ICAR–NRCB) organized a brainstorming session on "Farmer Producer Organizations in Tamil Nadu: Performance, Sustainability, Challenges and Future Prospects" on 4th July 2026 at ICAR–NRCB, Tiruchirappalli. In this programme 135 officials from 62 FPOs across Tami Nadu were participated. The programme was chaired by Shri Chinmay P. Gotmare, IAS, Joint Secretary (Marketing), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and co-chaired by Dr. R. Selvarajan, Director, ICAR–National Research Centre for Banana (ICAR–NRCB). In his inaugural address, Dr. R. Selvarajan stated that nearly 45,000 FPOs are functioning across the country. Of these, around 85% are engaged in agriculture, including field and horticultural crops, while the remaining 15% operate in the livestock and allied sectors. He further noted that approximately 85% of FPOs are led by men, whereas 15% are women-led. Referring to the NAAS policy report, he stated that only 4,009 FPOs remained profitable even after five years of establishment, emphasizing that the major reasons for their poor sustainability were inadequate training and capacity-building, lack of capital and poor marketing network. support. Shri G. K. Nagaraj, Director, Agri Innovate India Limited (ICAR), illustrated with an example that farmers from Varanasi have effectively utilized Central Government initiatives such as the PM-KISAN Samman Nidhi, together with State Government schemes and the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for millets, to improve their income and livelihoods. Shri S. S. Vaseegaran, General Manager, NABARD, highlighted India's leadership in the field of microfinance. He noted that NABARD extended its first direct credit support to an FPO at Nachallur in Tiruchirappalli through the Producer Organisation Development (POD) Fund. Subsequently, NABARD successfully supported 35 FPO federations in Tamil Nadu. He further informed that financial assistance is now being provided through NAPKISAN, the financing arm of NABARD. He also stated that nearly 400 NABARD-promoted FPOs have been established in Tamil Nadu, of which around 250 are functioning successfully. Shri Prakasa Rao, Regional Manager, NAFED, and Smt. S. Manamalli, Deputy Director of Agriculture, Tamil Nadu State Agricultural Marketing Board/State SFAC (TN-SFAC), highlighted the various services provided to FPOs, including capacity building, market linkages, input procurement, and institutional support. Smt. S. Manamalli also stated that around 10 lakh farmers in Tamil Nadu are members of one or another FPO. Dr. G. Ranganathan, one of the committee members, reported that nearly ₹44,000 crore is currently shared among different intermediary channels for 27 major agricultural commodities in Tamil Nadu, and that a significant portion of this value could be transferred to FPOs if they functioned more effectively. He also rated that an amount of 2200 crore turnover is rewarded in TN-FPO’s. Representatives of various Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), including Shri A. P. Karuppaiah and Shri Sampath, shared the challenges faced by FPOs and presented several recommendations for their sustainable growth. They requested the Government to release the pending equity grants and provide financial support for the remuneration of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) to strengthen FPOs. They also urged the Government to exempt FPOs from the mandatory Registrar of Companies (ROC) audit requirements and abolish the 10% penalty imposed for non-compliance with audit provisions. The representatives further recommended that NAFED should procure agricultural produce directly from FPOs to ensure better market access and remunerative prices for farmers. They also requested the establishment of infrastructure for FPOs and retail outlets at regulated markets or other suitable government land. In addition, they sought government support for establishing seed processing units, providing electricity tariff subsidies, and creating a separate governance mechanism for FPOs instead of placing them under the Marketing Department, thereby enabling more focused policy support and effective implementation of FPO-related programmes. The programme commenced with a welcome address by Dr. C. Karpagam. The event concluded with a vote of thanks proposed by Dr. J. Berliner.