Organic takeover: How 10,000 farmers of Telangana, Andhra are steering a silent movement https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/organic-takeover-how-10-000-farmers-of-telangana-andhra-are-steering-a-silent-movement-84503 Abhay Kumar Singh 28 August 2022 A federation of farmer-producer organisations has tapped into the growing organic market to help members raise incomes .
In 2013, when the government floated the concept of farmer producer organisation (FPO) to aggregate collection of produce and create market links for better prices under the Companies Act of 2013, CSA and the cooperative society saw this as an opportunity.
Establishing an FPO also helps gain financial support from the government. Thus, in 2014, all the farmers’ groups under the cooperative society registered themselves as organic FPOs, and the society at the helm as Sahaja Aharam Producer Company Limited, a unique “federation” of organic FPOs.
With more farmers trying to benefit from regenerative agriculture, the federation is focused on helping its members gain a better market share. For this, it plans production strategies with its FPOs. It apprises them of trends in organic produce, sales figures and rates from the previous years. “Unlike traditional FPOs, a lot of effort and business insight goes into production planning,” said Prasanna T P, chief executive of Sahaja Aharam. Further, to ensure quality, the federation tests 1 per cent of total produce for chemical pesticide residue.