The Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) to provide quality seeds of millets to the farmers in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
The FPOs are set up in agricultural and horticultural produce is grown / cultivated areas to leverage economies of scale and improving market access for farmers, said Raghvendra Patel of Maikalsuta Agriculture Centre in Patan, Jabalpur district.
Maikalsuta Krishi Store was set up by ten farmers under the Union government scheme with aim to provide quality seeds and fertilizers to the farmers, he said.
The Maikalsuta Krishi Store is registered with the government as per provisions of the Company Act, he said.
The famers need not to go outside Jabalpur or other places or outside state to purchase seeds and fertilizers, they will get quality seeds in the Store itself, he said.
In coming times our Store will also procure the foodgrains so that the farmers get direct benefit of market prices, he said.
On procurement of foodgrains from the farmers, the same will be supplied in the open market so that the benefit of the prices in open market is given to the famers, he said.
‘We provide seeds of other crops and fertilizers to the farmers now we have planned to provide millets seeds to the farmers’, Patel said.
The millets are grown in the tribal dominated Kundam Tehsil of Jabalpur district and the famers growers are tribals, there is growing demand for the millets crops therefore we have decided to provide seeds to the farmers other than tribals too, Patel said.
The Store has signed MoU with the Jawaharlal Krishi Vishwavidyalaya Jabalpur for supply of breeder seeds of various crops to farmers who will grow the seeds and futher those seeds will be supplied to the farmers in coming days, he said.
Presently three stores are registered as FPOs in the district including Superfield Farms Producer Company.
Sunil Patel of Superfield Farms Producer Compnay said quality seeds and fertilizers are must for better crop production.
Recently the United Nation’s General Assembly (UNGA) declared 2023 as International Year of Millets.
In Madhya Pradesh the total millets (Shree Anna) production was 1253.55 thousand tons in 2022-23 including small millets 140.65 thousand tons, Bajra 943.44 thousand tons and Jowar 169.46 thousand tons.
The total production of Millets (Shree Anna) in the country during 2022-23 is 17.32 million tonnes.
In yea 2020 the Union government launched “Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs)” with a total budgetary outlay of Rs.6,865 crore which aim at enabling farmers to enhance their bargaining power, leverage economies of scale, reduction in cost of production and enhancing farmers’ incomes through aggregation of their agricultural produce, thus playing a major role towards sustainable incomes.
