Economic impact of farmer producer organisations on Punjab peasantry

The present study has been designed to investigate the impact of farmer producer organisations (FPO's) on the employment and income of farmers in Punjab during the year 2019–20. A total sample of 160, which includes 10 FPOs, 100 farmer members and 50 non-farmer members, was taken for the study. The income of the farmers increased after joining the FPOs and the greater impact was seen in case of small, marginal and semi-medium farmers. Overall, the permanent labour employment had marginally increased but the income of farmers has increased by 15.71 per cent due to shift in the cropping pattern and proper use of farm inputs. Multiple linear regression analysis was applied to analyse the factors affecting the farmers’ income. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that farm size, family size and membership of FPOs had significantly influenced the income level of the farmers. To enhance the functioning of FPOs, it is suggested that the problems and constraints of non-functional or inefficiently working FPOs may be addressed. There is an urgent need to extend financial and technical assistance to the FPOs for setting up modern storage facilities.