Assessing performance of horticultural farmers producer companies: Comparative case study

Abstract

Every year the horticultural sector of India faces huge quantity of food wastage due to lack of processing, value addition and post-harvest handling. Farmers Producer Company (FPC) can mitigate the loss through ensuring better value chain management. There are several horticulture based FPCs established in different parts of India. They have grown very fast and competing with agro-industries. The present study aimed to assess the performance of FPCs working in horticulture sector. The study was conducted in Maharashtra State of India by selecting three FPCs working in horticultural sector. Performance of these FPCs was assessed through Effectiveness Index developed for this study. Seven components viz. functional effectiveness, increase in income, increase in farmers share in consumers rupees, inclusiveness, sustainability of company, farmers satisfaction and empowerment were included in the index by following standard index forming protocol. Sahyadri Farms was found the best performing one among the selected FPCs, regarding effectiveness with a mean index score of 63.69 followed by Vasundhara Agro Producer Company Limited (50.20) and Junnar Taluka FPC Ltd. (41.29).