Contribution of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) on Farmers Livelihood in Ramanathapuram District of Tamilnadu, India | Chapter 9 | Agricultural Sciences: Techniques and Innovations Vol. 3

 

Despite agriculture being a cornerstone of India's economy, farmers often face low income, poor market linkage and limited access to modern technologies, where agriculture plays a critical role, farmers also struggle with unstable prices and inadequate infrastructure. Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) are designed to organize marginal and smallholder farmers into collective groups to improve their livelihoods. The study assesses the role of three Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) in enhancing rural livelihood in Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu. One hundred and twenty farmers, including 60 FPO members and 60 non-members, were surveyed to compare socio-economic characteristics and livelihood impact. The study mainly focuses on the marginal farmer having more members under the FPO. The main objective of the study is to find out the different constraint and their impact. It also aims to support the development of market facilities for agricultural produce, enabling farmers to align their production with the market demand of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and improve their access to resources for income generation. The main motive behind this is to generate the resources to satisfy their daily needs. Moreover, the study also examines the economic and operational impact of such FPOs on the farmers' livelihood. It uses the Heckman model to correct the selection bias present in the data. The Garrett ranking method is used to identify significant constraints faced by FPOs and suggests possible solutions. FPCs of Ramanathapuram district are looking to avail themselves of the following sources of grants and loans. In total, 3 FPCs received a total funding of ₹524.00 lakhs, wherein Parambai FPC received ₹205.00 lakhs, Ramnad Mundu Chilli FPO received ₹169.00 lakhs, and Thiruvadanai Nerkkanjiyam FPC received ₹150.00 lakhs. In terms of factors, age, credit through KCC and implements and machinery were significant at the 5 % level. Farm size was positively associated with income (β = 0.039, p = 0.000), indicating that larger farms generated higher incomes. Furthermore, the biggest marketing hurdle, lack of access to current market trends (72.6 %), prevents farmers from making informed decisions on pricing and sales. The study concluded that maximising the impact of FPOs on farmer livelihoods would be critical by strengthening institutional backing, increasing participation among farmers and enhancing financial linkages. Future studies could explore the long-term impacts of FPO membership through longitudinal data collection to capture dynamic socio-economic changes over time.

 

Author(s) Details

A. Malaisamy
Department of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural College & Research Institute, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.

 

S. Rithika

Department of Agricultural Economics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

 

M. Raswanthkrishna
Department of Computer Science and Engineering (AI), Amrita University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/asti/v3/5987