A study on perceived constraints among FPO members of Odisha

The concept of FPOs is that the farmers producers of agricultural products can form groups and register themselves under Companies Act, 2013. The aggregation of small and marginal farmers as FPOs has helped increase market linkages to improve farmers’ economic strength. This study was conducted in Puri distric of Odisha during the period 2020-21. Data were collected from a total of 50 respondents through well-structured interview schedule from the respondents of eight FPOs from 2 blocks i.e., Nimapara and Brahmagiri. The study focused on state-wise progress of FPO promotion as on 31.05.2022 from the current data published by SFAC, bottlenecks perceived by the members of FPO and suggestions to overcome the challenges. The data were analysed through Garrett ranking technique and the challenges were ranked under socio - political, organizational, economic and other constraints. The constraint, lack of co-ordination between members of FPO for different group activities (97.65) was ranked “first” and non-availability of timely credits ranked last with an average mean score of (40.53) by the respondents.