Bharat is an agro-based nation but unfortunately, there has been an acute dearth of progressive and growth-provoking schemes to ensure potential price for their perishable crops. For 65+ years, not many innovations were done at the deriving optimum price for farmers and their welfare remained dependent on fate.
All vegetables and fruits are highly perishable products with a shelf-life of few days. In the scarcity of an efficient supply chain, the poor farmer was left with no option but to sell its farm products at a bare minimum, or else the perishable items would putrefy and perish. “Operation Flood” had initiated the White revolution in the field of Milk production. The AMUL -Anand Milk Union Limited, a Gujarat-based Cooperative was the engine that drove the success of “Operation Flood”.
Following similar lines, the NDA Government launched “Operation Green” in the 2018-19 budget with an outlay of 500 Crores to promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPO), agri-logistics, processing facilities, and professional management under the Ministry of Food & Food processing.
Tomato, Onion, and Potato are the vegetables that are widely used across the nation. Accordingly, the ministry formulated a scheme for integrated development of the Tomato, Onion, and Potato (TOP) value chain. Operation Green is a price fixation scheme aiming to ensure that farmers are given proper value for their produce. FPO is a registered body with farm producers as shareholders. It deals with business activities related to the farm produce and works for the benefit of the member producers.
1) The major objective of Operation Green is focusing on organized marketing of Tomatoes, Onions, and Potatoes (TOP vegetable) by connecting farmers with consumers.
2) Enhancing value realization of TOP farmers by targeted interventions to strengthen TOP production clusters and their FPOs, and linking /connecting them with the market.
3) Price stabilization of producers and consumers by proper production planning in the TOP clusters and introduction of dual-use varieties.
4) Reduction in post-harvest losses by creation of farm gate infrastructure. development of suitable agro-logistics, creation of appropriate storage capacity linking consumption centres.
5) Increase in food processing capacities and value addition in the TOP value chain with firm linkage with production clusters.
6) Setting up a market intelligence network to collect and collate real time data on demand and supply and price of TOP crops.
The Operation Green Scheme has two prolonged strategies of price stabilisation measures (for the short term) and integrated value chain development projects (for the long term).
a) Short-term Price stabilisation measures: NAFED is the nodal agency to implement Price stabilisation measures. MoFPI would provide 50% of the subsidy on the following two components.
1) Transportation of Tomato-Onion-Potato (TOP) Crops from production to storage.
2) Hiring of appropriate storage facilities for TOP crops.
b) Long term Integrated value chain development projects
1) Formation and capacity building of FPOs.
2) Quality Production
3) Post-harvest processing facilities-At farm level
4) Post-harvest processing facilities-At main processing site
5) Agri-Logistics
6) Marketing/Consumption Points
Operation Green has benefitted the farmers in multiple ways.
The scheme seeks to solve the problem of storage capacity.
Hence, when production increases and prices fall, the farmers can store their produce in cold storage.
Through this scheme, a better linkage between the production cluster and the market is established.
This scheme also tries to reduce the issue of intermediaries. Therefore, the farmers are able to fetch better prices of their produce.
This ambitious scheme has targeted to double the income of farmers by end of 2022.
Arun Bhide, a small farmer in a remote village near Nasik in Maharashtra had been growing Onions. With lots of eatery chains coming up in the near vicinity, he and other small farmers had received large orders for their produce. But, a huge chunk of their revenue would be taken away by the intermediaries. With growing production, they yearned to earn better revenue but lack of storage facility for their perishable produce refrained him from storing it and many times he sold it at extremely low price.
With Operation Green, the FPOs built the storage facility and the farmers like Arun preserved their farm produce, selling at a higher revenue without any middleman eating away their chunk of profit.
With the successful implementation of Operation Green for TOP (Tomatoes, Onions and Potatoes), the Central Government extended the scheme for 22 more perishable farms produce in the budget of 2021-22 and an additional fund of 500 Crores have been allocated for it.
Hon. Prime Minister is a son of the soil. In his entire governing journey he has nurtured the goal of strengthening the weaker sections. The farmers being the “Annadata” of entire mankind, Narendra Modi ji is striving hard to pay magnificent tribute to farmers of Bharat by doubling their income by the end of 2022.
Operation Green is a way forward in fulfilling this ambition.