Initiative:
Pilot project for Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) to provide Warehousing & Negotiable Warehouse Receipt financing facilities
Beneficiaries:
About 700 farmers from Jammu, Samba & Katra districts
The Challenge:
- The best basmati rice is grown in this region
- Yet the farmers do distress sale of their produce
- The warehouse facility of PACS is rudimentary
- The warehouses had to be brought to Warehousing Development
- Regulatory Authority’s (WDRA) standards
The Solution:
- Identification of suitable warehouses
- Upgrading these warehouses to WDRA standards
- Developing a Memorandum of Understanding between NABARD
- PACS & ORIGO India – a complete post-harvest management services company
- Offer Warehouse & Negotiable Warehouse Receipt facilities to farmers
The Impact:
- World class warehousing facilities very close to the farmers
- Distress sale stopped
- Farmers experienced freedom from the clutches of rice millers & aggregators
- Better crop price discovery