Govt saw fodder crisis coming over two years ago, but plans remained on paper | India News,The Indian Express
The FPO scheme – Formation & Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) — has a total budget outlay of Rs 6,865 crore—Rs 4,496 crore for five years i.e., 2019-20 to 2023-24, and a committed liability of Rs 2,369 crore for four years beginning 2024-25.
The proposal to set up of 100 FPOs specifically for fodder, was drafted by the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (MoFAHD) in September 2020; as a part of the government’s ambitious plan of creating 10,000 FPOs announced in Budget 2019-20 soon after the BJP returned to power in May 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had formally launched the scheme on February 29, 2020, in Chitrakoot.
But as per the details available with the Union Ministry of Agriculture, till August 16 this year, 8,416 FPOs have been allotted to 13 implementing agencies, of which 3,287 FPOs have been registered. Further, of the 26 FPOs allocated to the NDDB, only one has been registered till August 16, 2022. Sources in MoFAHD said even this FPO under the NDDB is for honey, not fodder.
The FPO scheme – Formation & Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) — has a total budget outlay of Rs 6,865 crore—Rs 4,496 crore for five years i.e., 2019-20 to 2023-24, and a committed liability of Rs 2,369 crore for four years beginning 2024-25.
Government sources said ‘FPOs in the dairy sector’ was one of the agenda items discussed in the fourth meeting of the Agriculture Secretary-chaired National Project Management Advisory and Fund Sanctioning Committee (N-PMAFSC) on September 28, 2020. With the FPO scheme entailing liberal financial support, it was decided that the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) will prepare and submit a proposal for 100 FPOs linked to dairy farmers.
The matter came up for discussion in the N-PMAFSC again on June 10, 2021. The Agriculture Secretary asked the DAHD to revise the proposal such that it centred around fodder. NDDB, the proposed implementing agency, was asked to submit the revised proposal through the DAHD immediately so that the Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare could “notify NDDB as an implementing agency for the Fodder plus model at the earliest.”
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