Rs 6,000 crore fund for farmer bodies

The government is planning to fulfil the promise made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the budget to set up a Rs 6,660 crore fund to foster 10,000 farmer producer organisations (FPOs) across the country over the next five years.

“This will completely be a centrally sponsored programme. We have got the go-ahead from the agriculture minister,” a senior agriculture ministry official said. The proposal is currently being vetted by the Department of Expenditure before it is sent to the cabinet for approval. 

The agriculture ministry will fund, handhold, train, ensure easy credit availability and provide other support to these FPOs (having a minimum of 500 member-farmers on board) to make them viable. There’ll also be technological interventions for the same.