An interaction meeting was held between officials of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir and the board of directors of Shopian Apple Farmers Co-operative Limited (SAFCL) here on Tuesday.
The SAFCL is a farmer-producer organisation (FPO) promoted by Krishi Vikas Kendra Shopian and formed by the apple growers of block Kellar of Shopian district.
Director Extension, SKUAST-K, CEO of SAFCL, Prof Dil Mohammad Makhdoomi was heading the SKUAST-K and KVK Shopian team while CEO of SAFCL, Javaid Ahmad Bhat, was heading the board of directors of the Kellar FPO.
Elaborating upon the said FPO, Javaid Ahmad Bhat Chairman and CEO of SAFCL told that the necessary codal formalities for the formation of FPO regarding baseline data, aggregation of minimum of 100 growers, required representation to small, marginal and women growers and one-time registration fee of a rupees 2000 from each member has already been done. Bhat also introduced his team of the Board of Directors to Director Extension and the scientists concerned.
During the interaction, Prof Makhdoomi briefed thoroughly about the various strategies to ensure the sustainability of their FPO. He told the FASCL team to come up with a directory containing all the relevant information about all the members, their agricultural status in terms of size of holding, area under different crops, the production data, surplus produce available for marketing and all other related aspects for the successful conduct of an FPO. Prof Makhdoomi also told them about the various functions that they have to perform in the capacity of the board of directors. He also instructed them to make a viable business plan for their FPO that should include ensuring the availability of all the inputs including quality planting material to the members, identifying various marketing channels and looking for the development of appropriate marketing linkages. The said interaction was also attended by the concerned scientists: Dr Mohammad Iqbal Bhat, Dr Mohammad Yaqoob Wani, Dr Sanjay Raina and Dr Parveen Kumar.