Along with joint partnership with Nafed, the MahaFPC has developed onion storage and marketing infrastructure through 25 partner FPCs. In the project, around 2,500 farmers have direct ownership and till now it has benefited 25,000 onion producers.
Packed sacks of onions (Image: REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui)
Amid the nation-wide protests over contentious three farm bills, a consortium of about 400 Farmers Producer Company (FPCs) in Maharashtra is currently exploring the possibilities of joint ventures with corporate houses.
Known as MahaFPC, the consortium has launched country’s first marketing infrastructure and onion storage through the public-private-partnership (PPP) model. Farmers body head Yogesh Thorat believes farmers should look for equitable partnerships and not only for subsidies to survive.
Some parties doing ‘drama’ over farmers’ protest: Devendra Fadnavis
“There is no option for small farmers than to form FPCs and corporate bodies will have to deal with FPCs. Corporate bodies would not be interested in production-centric operations but in infrastructure and value chain development. We are looking for investment-centric partnerships and joint ventures. This is the way to move forward,” BusinessLine quoted MahaFPC MD Yogesh Thorat as saying. He added that the new experiment with onions in state has boosted the confidence of the farmers.
Along with joint partnership with National Agricultural Marketing Federation of India (Nafed), the MahaFPC has developed onion storage and marketing infrastructure through 25 partner FPCs. In the project, around 2,500 farmers have direct ownership and till now it has benefited 25,000 onion producers through inter-state trade, linkages with corporate buyers and retail chains, added the daily.
Among other details, Thorat stated that both farmers and the farming have to be competitive to eradicate the fear of big corporate will take over agriculture. The MahaFPC is also mulling a non-banking financial company through which it aims to help farmers to develop agriculture infrastructure, value chain management and easy access to liquidity.
Expressing similar views, Nashik-based FPO Sahyadri Farms’ MD Vilas Shinde stated that farmers’ collectives will increase their negotiation power with corporate, thereby helping the farmers attain more profit and become entrepreneurs.
