Agriculture
APEDA signs MoU with SFAC
- 19 Mar 2020
- 3 min read
Why in News
Recently, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) to bring in better synergy in the agricultural activities.
Key Points
- APEDA has been in dialog with SFAC for linking of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), farmers’ cooperatives to the export value chain through quality production as per the requirement of importing countries.
- Agri Export Policy announced by Government of India with Farmers’ Centric Approach suggests for developing product specific clusters in the country to help improve productivity and quality of the varieties of crops with special involvement of FPOs.
- FPOs are an institutional innovation to help small holders to reduce cost of produce by procuring necessary inputs in bulk at wholesale rates, aggregation of produce and bulk transport reducing marketing cost etc. and extend their reach to modern technology and distant markets.
- The Policy also aims at addressing the obstacles faced by FPOs through organisations like SFAC to expand its network.
- The joint collaboration will enable SFAC and APEDA to reach a large farmer base for improving the production base of agri products quantitatively and qualitatively.
- It will maintain the consistency of supply and establish an image of quality suppliers in the International market leading to increase in export volume and value, contributing indirectly to doubling of farmers’ income.
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority
- It is an authority established under an act of Parliament and under the administrative control of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.
- It has been mandated with the responsibility of export promotion and development of the scheduled products viz. fruits, vegetables, meat products, dairy products, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages etc.
- APEDA has also been entrusted with the responsibility to monitor import of sugar.
Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium
- It is an autonomous society promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare.
- It is a pioneer in organising small and marginal farmers as Farmers Interest Groups, Farmers Producers Organisation (FPOs) and Farmers Producers Company for endowing them with bargaining power and economies of scale.
- It provides a platform for increased accessibility and cheaper availability of agricultural inputs to small and marginal farmers and in establishing forward and backward linkages in supply chain management.
