I run a small FPO and many members already farm with few chemicals. Can the FPO take up PKVY or organic certification for the whole group and handle the marketing together?
3 जवाब
Yes, an FPO is actually one of the best vehicles for organic schemes because PKVY, NMNF and MOVCDNER all work through groups and clusters, and an FPO already is an organised group with bank account, members and records. The FPO can act as the cluster, organise PGS group certification across members at low cost, aggregate produce for grading and packing, and negotiate a single bulk organic contract with a buyer, which is far stronger than members selling alone in the mandi. The FPO can also host a bio input resource centre or vermicompost unit as a shared enterprise and earn from it. The catch is discipline, every member field must stay genuinely organic or the group certification is at risk, so you need internal control, peer inspection and clear records. To proceed, approach your district agriculture office and the state organic mission with the FPO and ask to register a cluster and for PGS group registration, and separately work on lining up an actual organic buyer before scaling, because the certificate alone does not pay the premium, the buyer does. Confirm current per cluster and FPO support norms with your department, as these change.
Our FPO did exactly this for tur and cotton. The group PGS cost per farmer was tiny compared to each one trying alone. The bulk contract with an organic buyer is where the money actually came from.
Set up an internal control system early. One member sprayed chemical quietly and nearly cost the whole group its status. Now we do surprise peer checks and remove anyone who breaks the rule.