ABSTRACT
Krushidhan Producer Company Ltd. (KPCL) was incubated by the Development Support Centre (DSC), Ahmedabad. Registered in December 2013, KPCL caters to about 40,000 farmers from 190 villages in four districts, where it was increasingly becoming unviable to practise agriculture.
DSC worked in three phases, first establishing an agri-extension system, then forming the company, and finally helping it become financially independent over six years. By 2020–21, the company was serving 18,400 farmers – 4,409 shareholders and 14,000 non-members. Its share-capital stood at Rs. 4.406 million and its turnover at Rs. 85.0 million.
KPCL’s success tells us the story of how community mobilisation and building social capital of the community in the form of SHGs, Kisan Clubs, and so on can lead to a strong institution. It was able to draw on resources from its members to carry out its activities in the absence of formal credit. This brings out the social nature of farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and needs to balance its social goals with commercial viability. Given its multi-location, multi-community, and multi-commodity nature, Krushidhan presents lessons for many similar producer organisations.
