Himachal’s first natural farming FPC launched

Himachal Pradesh’s first 100 percent natural farming Farmers Producers Company (FPC) was launched at Nerwa during an event on natural farming. The FPC was launched by Professor Rajeshwar Chandel, Vice-Chancellor of Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry(UHF), Nauni.
 
Lauding the members for setting up the first natural farming-based FPC, Prof. Chandel said that the initiative will not only give a platform for natural farmers for selling their products but will also increase the collective bargaining power of the farmers. He said that the FPC will help the natural farming produce to reach bigger markets and attract traders from different areas.

Professor Chandel assured the FPC of technical support from the university for the food processing of different fruits and vegetables. He informed that the university is helping the company to process their lower grades of natural apple produce into juices. This facility is being extended by the university till the time the FPC sets up its own processing centre.
 
Vinod Mehta, Chairman of Chopal Naturals FPC welcomed the Chief Guest and said that the main motive of the company is to align the farmers practicing natural farming to build a sustainable market that will help them get the true value of their produce. He said as the company has both small and marginal farmers from different areas as its members and thus getting good pre- and post-harvest benefits for its members, just like the big farmers will be the main priority. Mehta said that the company is also doing value addition of products to maximize profit and create business opportunities for the farmers in the block. He urged other farmers engaged in natural farming to become members of their natural farming company. He also thanked the Department of Agriculture, PK3Y and ATMA teams, and UHF Nauni for their technical support and guidance.
 
Earlier, Dr. Ram Krishan, Project Director ATMA Shimla briefed about the activities being undertaken under PK3Y in Shimla district and encouraged more farmers to adopt this alternative farming methodology. Dr. NS Thakur, Principal Scientist from UHF Nauni gave a talk on food processing and the technologies developed by the university which could be adopted by the farmers. Rohit Sharma, Project Fellow, and CEO of the company explained about the process of the registration of the company. Traders from Delhi and Solan also attended the event and spoke about the benefits of FPC for farmers and traders.
 
Kripal Singh, Surender Mehta, Jagat Singh and Manoj Sharma, all the directors of the company also attended the event. The officers and staff of the Agriculture and Horticulture departments along with 300 natural farmers from Chopal, Nerwa and Kupwi blocks attended the event.