Superman Modi to farmers’ rescue

The Modi government’s ambitious 'Farm to Fork' programme has been made operational. With this programme, Modi government aims to take improvement and corporatization of agriculture to the next level by improvising digital and organisational perspective to Indian farming.

Over 2,000 farmer organisations in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will be incubated to grow into a cooperative society, trust and ultimately, a company, as part of the plan being implemented by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the country's largest development lender, according to the Economic Times.

Right from sourcing of inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and pesticides to machine requirements for management of farms, processing of produce, marketing and linking up with large value chains, the farmer organizations will be aided in all respect.

As per the ET report, amendment in Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act has enabled farmers to sell perishables directly to consumers to help farmers get better value for their harvest. However, requirement of multiple registrations and limitations in sourcing of perishable fruits and vegetables haven’t helped much.

“We have already identified over 300 farmer groups...We will be hand-holding them, helping with registrations and business process re-engineering to facilitate their take off," NABARD chairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwala told ET.

NABARD will use Rs 200 crore fund set up by the government to provide initial-stage funding besides additional money through its NBFC arm.

The move is aimed at facilitating creation of structures that would take the country's farm sector to the next level by bringing in cost efficiencies. The government has identified agro reforms to enhance productivity and value as a key focus area.

As a part of digitization process, NABARD has also launched a programme for self-help groups in rural India called e-Shakti. Having started as pilot in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand, this can be expanded to offer multiple products, including government services and the sale of consumer goods.

"There are 74 lakh self help groups of which 44 lakh are bank funded. We are now looking to digitise them by providing tablets which is on a platform hosted by NABARD," Bhanwala told the ET, adding that the second pilot project is being launched in Dhule in Maharashtra.

(Image: Reuters)