An official said that at least 96 farmer manufacturer organizations (FPOS) have done a business of 159 crores after being connected to their potential buyers through a weekly webinar run by the Union Ministry of Agriculture.
The official said the ministry has been hosting a webinar from every Thursday from March, where members of the FPOs and the representatives of the industry discuss their products and requirements.
The webinar was started by Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi with the aim of providing market linkage for FPO.
During these online sessions, the ministry invited various stakeholders including private companies, cooperative bodies and government agencies.
Representatives of big players like Olam International, Farmrt, Granology, Mother Dairy, Country Dilli and National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India Limited (NCCF) participated in the webinar.
By the end of June, the FPO has done a business of `159 crores from these companies on the basis of the orders received by these companies during the webinar. Agricultural products watching interest from private buyers include wheat, maize, mango and mustard.
Amidst large orders, Farmart bought a maize of Rs 50.44 crore directly from FOPOs, the official said, Olam International, Global Agri-Business Head, stood up directly from the FPO at a price of maize of Rs 3.26 crore from the FPO.
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The official said that these webinars were organized for 10,000 FPOs constituted under the Central Government’s plan and other FPOs.
“Links for online webinars are sent to all 10,000 FPOs -all FPOs of the mission: Organic Price Series Development for North East Region (Movcdner) scheme,” said the official.
In February 2020, a Central Area Scheme- 10,000 farmer manufacturer organizations (FOPOs) were formed and promoted- was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 29, 2020. The scheme was launched with a budget outlay of 6,865 crore, effective by 2027-28.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the term FPO covers the organization of farmer-products/ either under Part IXA or under the Cooperatives Act of the respective states Acts and is formed with the aim of availing collectives through the economies of scale in agriculture and affiliated sectors production and marketing.
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The ministry said that about 30 lakh farmers in the country are associated with FPO, out of which about 40 percent are women.
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