Farmer producer companies (FPOs) in central districts, where paddy cultivation has been the mainstay, are confident that fructification of the proposed Tiruchi-Nagapattinam Agro-Industrial Corridor announced in the State Budget will pave way for crop diversification.
According to FPO representatives in the delta region, hand-holding support by agencies such as Tamil Nadu Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium (TN-SFAC), and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) to stake-holders in the proposed corridor will result in formation of more number of farmer producer companies and reflect in large-scale cultivation of vegetables, oil seeds, pulses, and cash crops alongside paddy.
According to K. Raja, Director, Karikalan Pulses Farmer Producer Company, Mannaragudi, cultivation of groundnut and other oil seeds will go up in the event of there being a system for timely processing of the produce and instant cash flow to farmers. The agro-industrial corridor planned for the first time by the State, if implemented in letter and in spirit, will transform the hitherto rural outlook of the region.
The agro-industrial corridor has been a felt need for the region, Varatharajan, member, Thaaiman Traditional Agri-Related Producer Company, Thiruthuraipoondi, said.
Establishment of cold storages will obviate the necessity for farmers to sell their produce in a hurry to middlemen. There will be transparency in the sale of harvested crops to the rest of the States and also other countries.There will be more knowledge dissemination of the higher returns from cash crops. and there will also be better financial support from banks to Farmer Producer Companies, he added.
According to officials, the Tiruchi-Nagapattinam agro-industrial corridor will be energised to a large measure by the Central government’s scheme initiated earlier this year for formation of 10,000 new FPOs at an investment of ₹6,865 crore.
The scheme aims to facilitate farmers to form FPOs through provision of access to better technology, credit, better input and more markets and incentivise them to produce better quality commodity.
It envisages developing FPOs in produce clusters, wherein agricultural and horticultural produces are grown, cultivated for leveraging economies of scale and improving market access for members.
FPOs will be provided financial assistance up to ₹18.00 lakh each for three years. In addition to this, provision has been made for matching equity grant upto ₹2,000 per farmer member of FPO with a limit of ₹15.00 lakh per FPO and a credit guarantee facility up to ₹2 crore of project loan per FPO from eligible lending institution to ensure institutional credit accessibility.
