IFFCO Kisan Sanchar setting up 17 FPOs in Gujarat in tie-up with NABARD, NCDC

Fertiliser major IFFCO's arm IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Ltd is setting up 17 Farmer Producer Organisation (FPOs) in Gujarat in association with NABARD and NCDC.

A total of 5,000 farmers will get associated with these FPOs by the end of this year and more than 50,000 farmers by 2025, IFFCO Kisan said in a statement.

These FPOs are being established in association with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) and will be spread across several districts of Gujarat, it added.

"IFFCO Kisan has been selected by two implementing agencies NABARD and NCDC to set up 17 FPOs in the state of Gujarat. These FPOs will cater to various kinds of crop,? said Sanjeev Sharma, Chief- Agri-Business Services, IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Ltd.

The company said it intends to handhold farmers for creating a sustainable business model.

It will impart regular training on agri-tech usage, Package of Practices (PoPs), post-harvest management, primary processing, quality parameters, market intelligence and diverse business planning etc.

IFFCO Kisan would also be facilitating market linkage support to these FPOs/ farmers under its Farmer Forward Linking Program (FFLP) to farmers.

IFFCO Kisan will establish five FPOs in association with NABARD in four districts Anand, Patan, Surendranagar and Valsad. These FPOs will focus on banana, castor, cumin and cashew/ mango.

The company will set up 12 FPOs in Gujarat in association with NCDC.

These FPOs will be located in Junagarh and Sabarkantha districts with both the districts having 6 FPOs each.

The FPO at Junagarh will cater to mango, groundnut, jowar and cumin while those coming up at Sabarkantha will cater to groundnut, castor, amla and potato.

Sharma said the company will provide forward linkages to the farmers so that they are able to fetch better prices for their produce.

"IFFC Kisan is also at the forefront of adopting modern agri-tech and data-driven practices and we envisage to make farmers adopt some of the practices that are climate friendly such as GAP, IPM, Organic etc. Which will not only enhance the crop yield and save soil and climate health but reduce the cost of cultivation and will augment the income of farmers,? Sharma added.

IFFCO Kisan, in association with NABARD, has already established Rajeshwar FPO in Vav Taluka, Tharad in Banaskantha engaging more than 1,000 cumin farmers.

IFFCO Kisan helped them in establishing a primary processing unit (cleaning, grading and sorting line) and trained them to trade on NCDEX in future and Spot market.

The Centre has formulated a central sector scheme and is targeting the formation and promotion of 10,000 FPOs by 2025-26.

IFFCO Kisan said it is currently connected with around 60 FPOs directly or indirectly spread across the country.

Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) collaborated with Bharti Airtel and Star Global Resources Ltd to set up IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Ltd.

IFFCO Kisan operates in four major verticals - smart agriculture solution provider; cattle feed business; agri tech; telecom and call centre services.

The company offers services such as Green Sim, IFFCO Kisan Agriculture Mobile App, Kisan Call Centre Services, etc.