Government’s agri export promotion body APEDA and re-financing agency Nabard will soon impart training to 30 farmer producer organisations (FPOs) in Varanasi, Mirzapur, Ghazipur, Gorakhpur and Chandauli districts of Uttar Pradesh as part of a five-year plan to boost agricultural exports.

Already the government has allotted different agri products to these districts under “One District One Product” scheme – chilli for Varanasi, tomato in Mirzapur and Chandauli, onion for Ghazipur and Kala Namak rice variety in Gorakhpur.

Earlier this week, both Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Nabard have agreed to launch the training programme at the earliest, sources said.

Nabard Consultancy Services (NABCONS) will be the project manager to implement the training programme, the sources added.

Pilot initiative

Confirming the development, APEDA Chairman M Angamuthu said: “This is a pilot initiative and we will extend it to next level soon.”

“The course curriculum will be customised by Nabcons in consultation with APEDA for imparting focused training on export oriented theme,” he said.

Such training programmes will strengthen the role of FPOs in the export value chain, he added.

There are a total of 117 FPOs and farmer producers’ companies (FPCs), including 30 such bodies promoted by Nabard,have been operational in these five districts.

Besides NABARD, APEDA has also signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with other implementing agencies of FPOs scheme – Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

Under these MoUs, APEDA willoprovide technical knowhow to tPOs to upscale infrastructure created for post-harvest management to promote exports.

APEDA will also assist FPOs in certification of organic produce.

FPOs promotion scheme

The government in 2020 had launched “Formation and Promotion of FPOs” scheme under which 10,000 new FPOs are targeted to be formed by 2027-28.

Under the scheme, the Centre grants up to ₹33 lakh as handholding and financial support for five years to each new FPO. Also, a credit guarantee facility up to ₹2 crore of project loan per FPO is in place.