We work primarily with the farming community. We have worked with over 110,000 farming families in Tamil Nadu in nine districts. We have supported the setting up of over 650 farmers’ institutions involved in sustainable agriculture including – SHGs, JLGs, farmers clubs and common livelihood groups. Small and medium enterprises have been set up carrying out a variety of activities relating to sustainable agriculture. Starting from the year 2013 we have initiated and supported 23 Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) in various parts of Tamil Nadu spread over nine districts.

FARMER PRODUCER COMPANIES PROMOTED BY CIKS

  • The first two Producer Companies supported by CIKS, were formed in the year 2013 with technical support from CIKS i.e., Marutham Sustainable Agriculture Producer Company Limited (MSAPCL) in Tiruvannamalai district and Valanadu Sustainable Agriculture Producer Company Limited (VSAPCL) in the Nagapattinam district both in Tamil Nadu State. These efforts were undertaken in collaboration with Vrutti Livelihoods Resources, Bengaluru.
  • Subsequently, CIKS was involved in forming ten additional Producer Companies with support from NABARD as part of their POPI (Producer Organisation Promoting Institutions) programmes.
  • SFAC (Small Farmers Agri-business Consortium) has identified our Centre as a resource agency for the support of Farmer Producer Organisations and currently we are providing technical and organizational support to eleven FPCs, initiated and supported by SFAC.
  • Overall at present CIKS is providing support and help to 23 FPCs which are spread over nine different districts of Tamil Nadu.

A detailed snapshot of Farmer Producer Companies promoted by CIKS, showcasing shareholder details, director details, share capital and more, is available in the below document.

FPC Status

SHARE CAPITAL

The total authorized share capital of 23 FPCs stands at 507 lakhs and the paid-up share capital is 260 lakhs.

SHAREHOLDERS

As of August 2017, the total shareholders of 23 FPCs are 24,487. The shareholders represent nine Districts, 25 Taluks, 175 Panchayats and 375 villages.

The FPCs are governed by a total of 200 Directors (52 female and 148 male). Most of the shareholders belong to the category of small / marginal and landless farmers.

ASSETS

The assets created by FPCs include storage godown, paddy harvester, transportation vehicle and other office equipments such as photocopy machine, printer and electronic scale. This apart, the FPCs have also received ₹8.5 lakh worth of land as donation from its members.

SERVICES

The range of services provided by FPCs includes credit linkage, crop and cattle loan, seeds and other inputs supply, procurement from the shareholders, provision store, aggregation of demand, agriculture machinery facilitation centre, aggregation and market value addition, technical training and skill development.

MATCHING EQUITY GRANT FROM SMALL FARMERS AGRI-BUSINESS CONSORTIUM (SFAC)

The Government of India announced a Matching Equity Grant scheme for Farmer Producer Organizations in the financial year 2013-2014 with SFAC as implementation agency. The Farmer Producer Companies that satisfy the eligibility criteria set out by the scheme receive an equivalent grant to the equity contribution by members. Some of the eligibility criteria include 33% of the members are small/marginal and landless tenant farmers, paid-up equity does not exceed Rs.30 lakhs, duly elected Board of Directors with at least one woman director, management committee responsible for the business of the FPC etc.

So far 12 FPCs under CIKS support have been sanctioned a total of Rs. 69.2 lakhs as Matching Equity Grant.

Matching Equity Grant From Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC)

CREDIT AND MARKET LINKAGES

  • Linkages have been created for the FPCs with several finance institutions including – NABARD, NABKISAN, FWWB (Ahmedabad), Ananya Finance (Ahmedabad), IDBI and Pallavan Grama Bank
  • One of the FPCs has qualified as a Banking Correspondent (BC) by NABFINS.
  • FPCs have received support from NABARD under their PODF (Producer Organisation Development Fund) programme and the Produce Fund
  • Funding support has been extended to CIKS through which the capacities of Farmers Collectives have been enhanced from various agencies such as – DFID (UK), HIVOS (The Netherlands), Rabo Bank Foundation (The Netherlands).
  • Linkages have been established with various Government departments including Agriculture, Marketing and Horticulture.

TRAININGS AND CAPACITY BUILDING

  • We have been recognized as a Producer Organisation Promoting Institution (POPI) by NABARD and 10 FPCs are currently being supported by CIKS through the Produce fund of NABARD.
  • We have been recognized as a Resource Support Agency (RSA) by NABARD and training programmes have been conducted by CIKS for various POPIs in Tamil Nadu during the years 2016 and 2017. These programmes will also continue through the year 2018.
  • We have been recognized as a Resource Institution (RI) by SFAC for supporting FPCs and currently 11 FPCs are being supported by CIKS through the funding provided by SFAC.
  • Trainings and capacity building support is being provided by us to various FPCs and POPIs on a large number of topics relevant to FPCs,  including – legal and regulatory frame-work, management and governance, business planning, financing and marketing, insurance, accounting and allied topics.
  • We have also brought out a series of publications on various aspects of FPCs, their management, governance and performance both in English and Tamil.
  • Our team members provide training and support to programmes organised by various other FPCs, POPIs and agencies such as NABARD on FPCs.
  • We are currently planning a series of training programmes for trainers as well as farmer leaders on various aspects of FPCs during the year 2018.