Farmer producer organizations (FPOS): A prospective game changerfor marginal and small farmers agribusniess in India

Agriculture is the predominant occupation in the Indian economy providing employment opportunities to a wide range of population and contributes to the overall growth of the country. During the recent years, this sector has undergone lot of transformations in response to the changes in the economic condition of the country and worldwide. The present growth rate of Indian agriculture is not much encouraging and the Indian farmers are facing huge challenges in all frontiers right from production till marketing. Agriculture in India is predominantly production oriented and plays a pivotal role in the Indian economy. Many organisations have emerged to integrate small and marginal farmers into the value chain with the main objective of enhancing their income. One such alternative is the Farmer Producer companies which plays a vital role in promoting and strengthening farmers’ standard of living. It constitute a collective action of producers, particularly small and marginal farmers to collectively address many challenges of agriculture such as improved access to investment, technologies, inputs and market. The present study was carried out to find the success factors of Farmer Producer Companies in empowering farmers and game changer for small and marginal farmers. The study includes two FPCs viz., Melmalayanur Angalamman Collective Farming Farmer Producer Company Limited in Villupuram district and Veerapandy Kalanjia Jeevidam Producer Company Limited (VKJPCL) in Salem district of Tamil Nadu. The study concludes that FPCs have the potential to provide several benefits to farmers and enhance their income. The result of this study revealed that FPC has to increase their sales to sustain for the long term.