So far, the FPO has been a success, bringing together nearly 250 shareholders in a short period while also employing hundreds of associated individuals. Such has been the success of the FPO on Nadru—which is supported by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) under the Central Sector Scheme of formation of 10,000 FPOs—that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a detailed mention of it in his recent episode of the radio broadcast, ‘Mann Ki Baat’. The Prime Minister was overjoyed that the Nadru being sent out is bringing the name of Kashmir to the forefront, and that the initiative will result in many more such success tales.
The government deserves full credit because the problems of a low price on Nadru yield and, on top of that, a lack of market links were addressed well in advance by the creation of an FPO, which has undoubtedly made a significant difference. It has also come to light that the FPO is in the process of further improvement, and that work is being done to develop its operations in value addition, primary, and secondary processing by establishing value addition units in the area, with the Government’s support because the FPO plan is an institutional instrument to lower productions costs, boost per unit production, and promote better market linkage to increase farmers’ income, which brings us to the point of replicating the initiative in other sub-sectors of J&K’s agriculture.
The concerned departments and experts must be tasked with identifying such areas where there is a need for the necessary intervention and ensuring their handholding because this will improve, to begin with, agriculture, the marketability and value addition of the district’s farmers’ agricultural products, which can then be pushed to a larger level. Finally, the FPO’s effort to promote Dal Nadru production has been a success because it has allowed farmers to receive more money for their produce while also opening up new markets, and increasing self-reliance. Farmers and other stakeholders have been provided with a platform to collaborate and improve the production and marketability of Dal Nadru through the FPO. People want to see and learn about more success stories like this, and the government must do more to make that happen.
