Impact of farmer producer organization in augmenting farmers’ crop income in Tamil Nadu: A case study

In India, the proportion of small and marginal farmers is high. Small producers individually do not have the volume to get the benefit of economies of scale. Besides, there is a long chain of intermediaries because of whom the producers get only small per cent of price that consumers pay. So, to overcome this problem, farmers need to be formed as producer organizations, in name of Farmers Producer Organizations (FPO). The present study was conducted at Ooty district of Tamil Nadu with objective to study the socio-economic impact of FPO members and non-members. The multistage, purposive and random sampling techniques were followed in case of selecting the area and the respondents. A structured interview schedule was prepared and the data collection was done by personal interview method. Heckman selection correction model and Responses-Priority Index (RPI) were the statistical tools used in the study. Results indicated that young farmers, farmers with better education, small land holding were more interested in FPO and farmers preference on problems in FPOs were that the lack of storage facilities, non-inclusion of local leaders, lack of co-ordination for different group activities and political afiliation of member. As policy suggestion the storage infrastructure should be established for better functioning of FPO and also inclusion of local leader should to be made mandatory so has to bring more farmers into FPO and harvest the benefit of FPO in wider manner.