Rs 1.35cr for farmer producer groups to buy implements

Coimbatore: Twenty-seven farmer producer groups (FPG) in the district will be given Rs 5lakh each to buy farm implements and other equipment under the collective farming scheme this year.
Of this, 19 FPGs come under the agriculture department and eight, under the horticulture department. The departments have approached the collector for approval and are expecting it within next week.
Each group comprises 100 farmers. Earlier, 20 farmers were grouped into farmer interest groups (FIGs). Five of those groups were clubbed to form one FPG.
Agriculture department officials said with the fund, each FPG can buy farm implements or machinery they need. “They can use them among themselves or lease them to make money for the group,” said an agriculture department official.
The groups are spread across 12 blocks of the district. “The farmers can be cultivating any crop. They have to be from the same area,” said the official.
The scheme was started during 2017-2018. In the first year, 21 FPGs under the agriculture department were given Rs 5lakh each. Last year, 19 FPGs were given the fund.
Horticulture officials said they have been giving the funds to eight FPGs from 2017-2018.
While some groups are performing well under the collective farming scheme, some needed frequent impetus, the official said. “If the farmers take up the initiative and perform well, the scheme would be very profitable for them.”
The initial steps to form the FPGs are taken up by the agriculture and horticulture departments. The next step of forming farmer producer companies (FPCs) clubbing 10 FPGs would be taken up by the agriculture marketing department. The produce of the members will be packed or value-added and marketed directly without the involvement of middlemen.