India’s push to embed smallholder farmers into modern, high-value agricultural markets reached a new milestone with the Government announcing strong progress under its Central Sector Scheme for the Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). As of 5 December 2025, all 10,000 targeted FPOs have been formally registered, marking one of the world’s largest coordinated efforts to collectivize farmers and integrate them into national value chains.

The scheme extends Rs 18 lakh per FPO as management cost over three years, provides matching equity grants up to Rs 15 lakh, and ensures credit guarantee coverage of up to Rs 2 crore from eligible lending institutions. These interventions are combined with structured handholding on training, market access and convergence with complementary schemes to help FPOs move beyond aggregation into value-added enterprise development.

A critical thrust of the programme has been enabling regulatory readiness. FPOs are being supported in securing input licences—covering seeds, fertilisers and pesticides—as well as mandi licences that allow them to market produce directly. To strengthen business literacy and market competitiveness, the Ministry has been conducting weekly webinars that decode pricing, compliance, branding and procurement opportunities.

Digital transformation remains another anchor: 4,642 FPOs are now integrated with the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), giving them exposure to transparent price discovery and a nationwide pool of buyers. Further, 236 FPOs have secured credit-linked subsidy under the PM-FME scheme, enabling them to invest in micro-food processing assets, while 1,590 FPOs have availed support under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, providing capital infusion for storage, grading, sorting and other post-harvest infrastructure.

Credit accessibility—a longstanding bottleneck for farmer collectives—is being unblocked systematically. Under the Credit Guarantee Fund (CGF) of the 10,000 FPO Scheme, 2,583 FPOs have already secured collateral-free loans, demonstrating rising confidence among lending institutions. Although PM-KISAN benefits are designed for individual farmers and not routed through FPOs, the Government has doubled down on strengthening collective access to markets and buyers. FPOs are being nudged to explore new-economy platforms such as the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), e-NAM and Government e-Marketplace (GeM), unlocking access to larger geographies and diversified procurement channels.

To deepen buyer-seller connectivity, the Ministry continues to facilitate curated interactions between FPOs and industry players at exhibitions, melas, buyer-seller meets, and major B2B events. FPOs are increasingly visible at sectoral expos—hosted by industry bodies, central ministries and state governments—where agribusinesses engage directly with producer collectives for sourcing, contract farming and value-chain partnerships. Regular webinars featuring industry experts provide FPOs with insights into procurement standards, pricing models, logistics expectations and branding strategies, helping them operate with greater commercial clarity.

Taken together, these efforts signal a structural shift in India’s farm economy: from fragmented smallholder operations to organised, market-integrated producer enterprises capable of negotiating better prices, securing institutional finance and participating in national and digital marketplaces. By tightening linkages across the agricultural value chain, the Government aims to turn the FPO movement into a cornerstone initiative for boosting farm incomes, strengthening rural entrepreneurship and positioning India’s smallholders as competitive actors in a rapidly evolving agri-market landscape.