Problem statement:

Field level studies have clearly established the positive role of such aggregations in terms of increased net income of farmers through informed decision making, improved access to inputs and agro-services, institutional credit, marketing facilities and enhanced efficiency in the farming operations. However, there are challenges and policy gaps in the ecosystem. The important challenges and confronting issues in building sustainable FPOs, are: (a) Lack of technical Skills/ Awareness, (b) Inadequate Professional Management, (c) Weak Financials, (d) Limited access to credit, market and basic infrastructure, (d) Lack of Risk Mitigation Mechanism etc.

Building of robust FPO movement requires mass awareness generation among farmers/ value chain actors and other stakeholders and initiating critical reforms to strengthen the FPO ecosystem, such as adopting appropriate flexible policy by State Governments, strengthening rural marketing infrastructure, earmarking suitable budgets, encouraging private investors to set up efficient agricultural value chains with integration of FPOs for productivity enhancement, aggregation, value addition and collective marketing etc.