Value Addition and Employment Generation in Agriculture through Producers’ Organizations: A Case of Farmers Produce Promotional Society in Punjab

The study has examined value addition and employment generation in agriculture through the activities of producers’ organizations by taking the case of Farmers Produce Promotional Society (FAPRO) in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. The study, based on both primary and secondary data, has been focused on two major activities of FAPRO, viz. turmeric and honey processing and their marketing. The net returns per acre from turmeric cultivation have been found higher than from wheat or rice. The processing of turmeric provided the net profit of 2838/q with benefit-cost ratio of 1.3. The turmeric cultivation generated employment for 33 human-days/acre. The turmeric seed had a higher benefit-cost ratio of 5.0. The processing of honey had a benefit-cost ratio for 1.3. The value addition activities by FAPRO could generate employment for 1872 human-days/tonne in turmeric and for 420 human-days/tonne in honey processing at the FAPRO unit. At the farm level, the employment generation was of 33 human-days/acre in turmeric and 162 human-days/100 boxes in honey. There is need to encourage producers organizations to promote value addition and for employment generation. The income enhancement and employment generation will ultimately lead to the growth of rural economy of India.