Executive Summary
With a noble intention to bring all farmers into one forum and to strengthen agricultural institutions and increase farming capacity through cultivation, the Minapur Kisan Producer Company Limited was formed in the year 2021 (01/04/2021). Through this FPO, instigation was made to allow the farmers to ask questions freely and communicate common problems specific to their region. This forum also encourages you to connect with likeminded farmers who have similar interests and challenges without feeling any pressure from peers or industry experts.
Background
Minapur is a town in Minapur Block in Muzaffarpur District of Bihar State, India. It belongs to Tirhut Division. It is located 20 KM towards the north from the district headquarters of Muzaffarpur. It is at block headquarters located in Muzaffarpur district in Bihar. This FPO covers 20 villages with 750 shareholders, of which 120 shareholders belong to the general category, 66 shareholders belong to SC, and 565 shareholders belong to OBC.
Challenges Faced
- Agri marketing Issues of the Produces
- Very high price of input materials than market price
- Limited access to farm equipment on rent basis
- Limited market information
- Lack of reliable market
- Lack of multiple options to sell the produce
- Gap in Technology adoption
- Low Bargaining Power
- Limited access to credit
- Lack of infrastructure:
- Limited range of crops.
- Retail sales of value-added products
Focus Areas
The primary crop of the FPO is maize, the secondary crop is paddy, and other crops are wheat and vegetables. The FPO is also focusing on different components of crop production, like supplying quality inputs at a reasonable price on time, farm equipment on a rent basis, productivity improvement, aggregation of the produce from farmer members, value addition, packaging, branding, and sales in retail and bulk, ensuring a better price to farmers.
Bargarh district is famous for its commercial rice production known as rice bowl of Odisha. The farmers also grow seasonal vegetables which include cauliflower, cabbage, pointed gourd, brinjal etc. The district is among the top districts of Odisha with respect to consumption of fertilizers and pesticides (Odisha Agriculture Statistics, Directorate of Agriculture and Food Production, Odisha; 2013-14).
The application doses of pesticides sometimes are found 3 to 4 times of the recommended doses (primary data). Farmers also apply same formulation pesticides repeatedly. In addition to these, some pesticide companies are selling sub-standard formulations draining out the famers’ money. Recently Govt. of Odisha has banned 11 pesticide companies not to sell their products (Hindustan Times, 15th November 2017).
All these situations are creating an environment where most of the pathogens and insects are generating resistance against applied pesticides. Farmers are incurring a major part of their cost on pesticides. Sometimes farmers are becoming helpless on controlling disease-pest. Recent example of huge crop losses caused by Brown plant Hopper (BPH) in paddy crop causing number of farmer suicide cases and crop field burning by farmers. The time has reached to shift from pure chemical based farming to integrated approach and non-pesticide approach.
Strategic Interventions undertaken where the FPO has fixed their goals and strategies
| Goal:
Increase the income of the farmers Sustainability of FPO Strategy: Market linkages: ONDC, eNAM, GEMS, IEC Outlet Value addition: WHEAT DALIA Output marketing: WHEAT, MAIZE, PADDY Processing unit |
FPO has also created a Business Model in doing input business by taking reasonable profit so that farmers can decrease their input farming expenses, encourages farmers to use Bio Products, need based pesticide application, need based fertilizer application, adopting integrated crop management etc.
Training & Capacity Building: FPO is facilitating training through Domain Experts of CBBO and also various trainings sponsored by Line departments (Agriculture, Agriculture Marketing & Horticulture)
Input services: Quality inputs like seeds, fertilizers, Cattle feed, pesticides, bio-products through FPO outlet sales
Output Market linkages: Farmer members are using eNAM Platform for selling their produces like wheat, Paddy and Maize
Output marketing: Aggregation of the produce from farmers and selling in bulk to buyers, other FPOs including eNAM and Government channel at MSP.
Bulk supply of Maize to NCCF at MSP: FPO has supplied 300 ton of maize in last season supplying to NCCF and providing MSP to farmers
Value added products: Through the online ONDC network and offline: Wheat & Dalia
Strategic Interventions undertaken where the FPO has fixed their goals and strategies
| Goal
Increase the income of the farmers Sustainability of FPO Strategy Market linkages: ONDC, eNAM, GEMS, IEC Outlet Value addition: WHEAT DALIA Output marketing: WHEAT, MAIZE, PADDY Processing unit |
FPO has also created a Business Model in doing input business by taking reasonable profit so that farmers can decrease their input farming expenses, encourages farmers to use Bio Products, need based pesticide application, need-based fertilizer application, adopting integrated crop management, etc.
- Training & Capacity Building: FPO is facilitating training through Domain Experts of CBBO and also various trainings sponsored by Line departments (Agriculture, Agriculture Marketing & Horticulture)
- Input services: Quality inputs like seeds, fertilizers, Cattle feed, pesticides, bio-products through FPO outlet sales
- Output Market linkages: Farmer members are using eNAM Platform for selling their produces like wheat, Paddy and Maize
- Output marketing: Aggregation of the produce from farmers and selling in bulk to buyers, other FPOs including eNAM and Government channel at MSP.
- Bulk supply of Maize to NCCF at MSP: FPO has supplied 300 ton of maize in last season supplying to NCCF and providing MSP to farmers
- Value added products: Through online ONDC network and offline: Wheat & Dalia
This FPO has fixed its product portfolio of primary products, secondary products and other products & made key partnerships with potential buyer, government institution and service providers like:
- eNAM
- ONDC
- HIL
- NCCF
- NSC
- Convergence
MINAPUR KISAN PRODUCER COMPANY LIMITED has successfully availed the Equity Matching grant of Rs. 15,00,000/-. (Rupees Fifteen lakh only). FPO has also developed different products for different Market/Customer Segmentation through Institutional Buyers (mostly raw produce), eNAM (mostly raw produce), ONDC (value-added products), Outlet sales (value-added products), etc.
Success Mantra
MINAPUR KISAN PRODUCER COMPANY LIMITED has increased its turnover by increasing input and output sales through different revenue channels, including
Providing inputs
FPO provides quality inputs like seeds, bio-fertilizers, and pesticides at competitive market price. They have also provided machinery and equipment for members to use on rent basis (Custom Hiring Centre).
Providing value-added services
FPO has provided value-added services like cleaning, packing, of products like: wheat and wheat dalia.
Market information & Market Linkage
FPO has provided market information to help member farmers make decisions about production and marketing. FPO is facilitating to sell the produce of shareholders ensuring better market price through institutional buyers, eNAM and ONDC.
Business turnover and Net operating profit of:
- FY 2021-22- Business Turnover of Rs. 4114.45 in thousand
- FY 2022-23- Business Turnover of Rs. 9,656.81 in thousand
- FY 2023-24- Business Turnover of Rs. 10,453,702.55
- Number of farmers benefitted: 512 farmers with different schemes & Convergence model
Impact
|
Issues / Challenges addressed by FPO |
Interventions made by FPO |
Impact |
| Productivity | Supply of quality inputs and training on scientific crop production. | – Increase in productivity by using quality input |
| Low market price of the produce/products | FPO made key partnerships with potential institutional buyers and service providers. Also established Govt procurement system at MSP. | – FPO is facilitating to sell the product of shareholders ensuring better market price through institutional buyers, e-NAM and ONDC. |
| Lack of awareness regarding scientific package of practices of regular produce
|
FPO has used the farmers social network to encourage the scientific package of practices for wheat and wheat dalia with the help of CBBO Experts as well as of line department officials.
|
– The skill has been upgraded among the farmers through physical training, online training including Learning Management System
– Crop demonstration is made by the member farmers made confidence among farmers community. |
Quote from the farmers benefited through interventions undertaken- “Hamarein jiban mein vyavasthit phasal ka upyog karkein; humnein Sahi samay par, sahi gyan paa kar, sahi matra aur sahi quality input istemal karnkein apna utpadan ki bridhi kar payein hain.” —- By using systematic cropping pattern through acquired knowledge; we have learned to do cropping using inputs in right time, right quantity and right quality of inputs which has increased our productivity.
Shareholder name: Ganesh Kumar Gupta, Village: Milki
Now he is aware of current market price of the agri input products as well as the produce and accordingly he is buying the input and selling his produce.
Recognition:
Participated in National Exhibition on Agriculture Marketing, Patna on 4th-7th March 2023.
On 15th August 2023 participated in the event on Independence Day with Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav at Red Fort, New Delhi invited by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Govt of India
Lessons learnt
In order to strengthen the FPO, the major leanings are:
- Supply of quality inputs on time with competitive price to shareholders
- Productivity enhancement of focused crop introducing scientific agriculture practices
- Increase the market orientation and market participation among the farmers
- Market linkage with institutional buyers enabling farmers to get better price
- Good packaging and branding of value-added products to attract customers
- Increase the connectivity with consumers
- Ensure quality control
- Building strong supply chain
- Consider the challenges to address while going for scaling up.
Way forward
- Processing unit of wheat
- Warehouse
- Addition of potential revenue channels for FPO
- Continuously provide input supply round the year to the farmers
- Increase the number of shareholders
