Banas Farmers Producers Co, Guided by Reliance Foundation, Empowers Small Farmers

BILKULONLINE

Ahmedabad, Dec 24: For over eight years now, the farmers of Radhanpur in Patan district, Gujarat have been seeing steady improvement in their lives and livelihoods. One of the key reasons is the presence of the Banas Farmers Producer Company (FPC), mentored by Reliance Foundation.

Banas FPC’s journey exemplifies how farmer collectives can drive rural transformation, inclusive growth, and farmer empowerment. Its success serves as a model for strengthening agriculture and building resilient farming communities. Recently, Banas was awarded the prestigious ‘FPO Impact Award 2024’ by Access Development Services for FPO of the Year. This recognition highlights Banas FPC’s transformative role in enhancing the livelihoods of small and marginal farmers.

Incorporated in April 2016 as part of a development initiative by Reliance Foundation, Banas FPC addresses critical challenges in agriculture, including irrigation, mechanization, sustainable farming, and market access. The FPC empowers farmers to capture higher value in the value chain, ensuring them better prices, timely payments, and access to affordable agri-inputs. Its chairman Shri Karsanbhai Jadeja, a cumin farmer, has been leading from the front in Banas’s growth story. He envisions Banas FPC becoming an INR 100 crore turnover entity within the next decade. Plans are underway to diversify its product offerings as well as establish its own retail brand, ‘Chorad,’ and enter the export market for cumin within the next five years.

Banas FPC, with over 2,100 shareholders (including 400+ women) and a paid-up equity of INR 30 lakhs, achieved a revenue of INR 7.4 crores in FY 2023-24, primarily through the sale and processing of cumin, castor, and other agri-inputs as well as by providing multiple services to farmers such as farm machinery on hire, spraying through drones, soil testing and localized agro advisory using IoT devices. Its cumin processing business alone, launched in FY 2018-19, grew from INR 8 lakhs to INR 3.25 crores, offering farmers higher returns than local traders. Farmers benefit from assured payments, transparent weighing, and access to affordable, high-quality inputs, leading to a 30% yield increase.

Banas FPC provided technical guidance, linkages and training by Reliance Foundation, has now evolved into the role of a mentor for six other Farmer Producer Companies in the region, supporting them in market linkages, governance, and operations. Two of these FPCs were promoted by Banas under NABARD’s FPC promotion program. Banas and these six FPCs together now form a federation, that collectively supports more than 4,000 farmers across 100 villages, with a combined turnover for FY 2023-24 of INR 23 crores. FPCs mentored by Banas have also been recognised for their outstanding contributions in empowering farmers and promoting rural development.

Banas is embracing technology by digitizing its farmer database and Point-of-Sale system for real-time insights on farm conditions for timely, customised advice to farmers. The company has also engaged an agri-tech start-up to provide satellite-based agro advisory to spice farmers with a bundled custom-made insurance product that protects the farmer’s yields.

The story of Banas FPC is a powerful example of how farmer collectives can transform rural economies, drive inclusive development, and enable farmers to shape their own futures.

On this Kisan Diwas, celebrated annually on 23rd December to honour the farming community, Reliance Foundation reaffirms its commitment to strengthen smallholder farmers and farming communities through dedicated support and mentorship of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), empowering farmers to become more resilient and self-reliant.