Morena Krishidhan Farmers Producer Company Limited was established by SwitchON in the Morena block, and was registered under the Company’s Act 2013 on 3rd August 2021. The Morena block is located in northern Madhya Pradesh, near Gwalior, and lies in the Chambal river valley. Known for their world famous wheat, the region has been primarily focussing on agriculture, neglecting the business opportunities.
Farmer Producer Organisations, or FPOs are a collective of farmers forming a registered organisation or company to carry out agri-business activities, including aggregation, processing, storage and marketing of agricultural materials and products. SwitchON has been empanelled as a Cluster Based Business Organisation (CBBO) under NABARD to set up FPOs in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh.
Official meeting of SwitchON team members with Mr. Ashish Srivastava DDM NABARD (Morena)
With the initiation of the CSS scheme on “Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs”, farmers are being mobilised to form Farmer Interest Groups (FIGs), which come together to form a FPO. For the Morena block, there is a specific focus on red chilli cultivation, aggregation, processing and marketing. Red Chilli is a high value product grown in small clusters across Morena, and sold locally to wholesalers and aggregators for industrial processing. The price received for the product was comparatively lower than direct sale of processed product. The FPO comes here to mitigate the losses in agricultural marketing, by providing direct aggregation facilities and buyer linkage.
Farmers Mobilisation Meeting in Morena block, Madhya Pradesh
SwitchON is working with the members of the Morena Krishidhan FPC and developing a business plan. The initial focus is on setting up aggregation and grading units for the major agricultural products like cereals, pulses, chilli and millets. SwitchON is already supporting the and facilitating government scheme application for subsidies and benefits for development of the agri-value chain, bridge the seller-buyer gap by market linkages as well as promote sustainable agricultural practices. With support from the various central and state schemes as well as schemes for development of horticulture and spice value chains, many small and marginal farmers benefit. Notably more than 75% of the farmers are small and marginal farmers in the region, and practice intensive cultivation. In the long term, the FPC is also planning to expand their business activities in input supply chain development, marketing and storage, and processing management.
Proposed Business activities for Morena Krishidhan FPC
SwitchON has also been empanelled to form 2 more FPOs in Madhya Pradesh, namely in Shivpuri and Pohri blocks of Shivpuri district with focus on onion and tomato crops respectively. Farmer mobilisation and awareness creation on FPO formation is ongoing in these regions. SwitchON’s field network is supporting farmers across the country to increase their farm-based income and create a sustainable environment for tomorrow.
Official meeting of SwitchON team members with Mr. Meena, Project Director, ATMA (Shivpuri)
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