Role of Farmer Producer Organization Post COVID in Marketing of Perishables in Karnataka

The COVID-19 pandemic started in India during first week of March has infected people and taken its toll. As a result of this pandemic, the entire Nation went into lockdown from March 22nd 2020 to protect people’s life. The lockdown has hit all the sectors of the economy including agriculture resulting in disruption of business, movements, lifestyles, health and employment. Agriculture being backbone of the Country is affected both on backward and forward linkages of the supply chain. In this context, a study of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO) primarily dealing in horticulture commodities in Karnataka was undertaken with an objective to understand their role in addressing the challenges in supply chain. Of the 100 FPO’s promoted by Department of Horticulture, 40 FPO’s were involved in output business post COVID-19 pandemic of which 23 FPO’s were chosen for the study. As field surveys were not possible due to the pandemic, information was elicited through telephonic interview of Chief Executive Officers of the FPO’s. FPOs in the process on selling diverse commodities to consumer door step faced challenges with respect to transport, payment, logistics and working capital. Though FPOs faced several challenges, several of them found new approaches to deal with the situation. The findings from the study are summarized and recommendations are made to create an enabling environment for FPO’s to do business more effectively and to equip them to deal with the situation.