EMPOWERMENT OF FARMING COMMUNITY WITH CORPORATE IDEAS – A NOVEL SCHEME “ COLLECTIVE FARMING “ BY GOVT OF TAMILNADU – DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE – ADDRESSING THE FARMERS ON THE ESSENCE OF COLLECTIVE FARMING
FARMER INTEREST GROUP – FIG
Priority village identification by ADA and ADH concerned
Get the list of SF/MF from VAO of the selected village
20small and marginal farmers / lease holder identified by block collective farming team for FIG formation
ADA, ADH will jointly head the team . Agri Engg AED, bank manager, PACB secretary are members
Criteria for FIG members
- SF/MF/Lease holder
- 15-20 farmers per group in broadly contguous area and cultivating same crop
- Age 18-60 years
- Residence in same locality
- FIG open saving bank account in any branch by assigning a specificgroup name
- FIG convene meeting atleast once in a month
- Members should have comon need and importance
- Share capital of Rs.500 per member and saving of stipulated amount after sale of prouce
- Collective farming – crop planning, collective purchase of inputs , sharing of farm labourers , modern practices . collection of farm produce in single lot , value addition and marketing for remunerative price fixed by FIG
5 norms for members
A.Memebrs attendance more than 90 % in a monthly group meeting
B. FIG – to maintain meeting minutes book, savings register, cash boo, loan ledger , members pass book
C.members should do regular savings as per norms agreed
D.internal lending of savings for member farmers – small amount for short period with minimum documentation , without security on trust basis
E.External loan from the bank may be availed after 6 months of group formation
10 . FIG – should select president , secretary, treasurer - District collector approve the FIG and block collective farming team register the group in societies act
FPG – FARMER PRODUCER GROUP
• 5 FIGs in same village or adjacecent village in the same block or adjacent block federated into FPG comprising 100 SF/MF
• President , secretary and treasurer of FPG elected by the officer bearer of 5 FIGs
• This FPG named as village farmer producer group and registered in societies act
• Separate saving bank account opened in nearby bank for each FPG
• FPG convene meeting once in a month and record minutes of the meeting . Block collective farming team will guide the FPG on various collective farming activities
• FPG – decides the crop, area to be cultivated, method of cultivation , mode of purchase of inputs needed for 100 farmers , machinaries needed and marketing aspect in cordination with BCFT . Immediate steps to sort out problem faced by FIG covered in FPG
• BCFT will release Rs.5.0 lac through ECS to FPG in 3 instalement , 20% , 40 % and 40 % respectively being 1 lac, 2 lac and 2 lac after getting utilization certificate . FIGS should have conducted 4 monthly meeting and minutes of the meeting recorded, share capital of Rs.500 and resolved to do collective farming
Methods to bring economies of scale
• Micro irrigation
• Conveyor pipes
• Common tractor usage
• Rotavator usage
• Multi thrasher usage
• Transplanter usage
• Other machinaries for common usage
• Common infrastructure created if needed
The corpus fund of Rs.5.0 lac may be used for above purpose as capital investment for collective farming – creation of fixed community asset
BCFT will scruitinize the FPG minutes of meeting book , savings cum attendance register and cash book once in three months – March/ June/September / December . BCFT facilitate credit support from FI/ NABARD/ SFAC
PREPARATION OF PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN ( PIP )
District level commitee will aprove and District collector will sanction .
Registers ot be maintained
1.minutes of meeting
Savings registers for FIG / FPG cash book and loan register for fig and fpg\infra / stock created registers ( with utilization details to be maintained by AAO for each FPG
Formation of FPO – give self reliance and sustainability to the groups – DD Agri business marketing District development manager NABARD are responsible for selection of FPGs for formation of FPO and link it with TN SF Agri business consortium or with NABARD and this FPO can be registered uner companies Act 2013
10 FPG will form one FPO
TIME FRAME FOR THE PROJECT
15 th day - allocation of FIGS to the blocks by the collector and selection of villages by team of ADA and ADH
30 th day – identification of farmers and formation of FIGS
45 th day – selection of president , secretary , treasurer for FIGS and conduct of meeting
60 th day – Mobilization of 5 FIGS by conducting meeting and institutionalization of FPG by electing president , secretary and treasurer and establishing linkages with banks and approval by district commitee
75 th day – prioritization of intervention required by FPGs and identification of technical/ administrative / support partners for the implementation of various identified activties and preparation of PIPs
90 th day – approval of PIP by district collector
105 – 150th day – execution of project and fund release as per guidelines
165 th day – monitoring the execution process and utilization aspects
180 th day – conversion of selected FPGs into FPOs by linking with NABARD / TNSFAC for formation of FPOs
The farmers are given technical inputs for enhancing productivity and quality of the harvest and marketing support …
