Karnataka: Farmers reap rich REWARD with World Bank-assisted programme

For many farmers in Karnataka, the biggest challenge isn’t growing crops. It’s marketing of the produce. While the state has over 1,472 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) promoted by various departments under various state and central schemes, many have struggled to move past simple registration to becoming profitable businesses.

The World Bank-assisted REWARD (Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agricultural Resilience through Innovative Development) programme is changing that. By treating FPOs as business entities rather than just groups, the government is cutting out middlemen and boosting farmer incomes.

“Formation is only the first chapter of the story, the real challenge is sustainability. Farmers are experts at cultivation but often lack the proficiency for grading, processing and navigating complex market dynamics. They often fall back on the old culture of selling to middlemen because they need immediate cash to repay input debts and lack adequate storage,” said a senior officer in the department.

To bridge this gap, the State Watershed Development Department (WDD), acting as the nodal agency, onboarded Ernst & Young LLP as a Technical Support Agency (TSA) to handhold FPOs in achieving 25% increase in business turnover.

According to departmental data, several FPOs have seen income surges of 200% to 300%. In Belagavi, for instance, where dairy farming is prominent alongside sugarcane and soybean cultivation, farmers struggled with preservation of available waste green fodder over months. The REWARD programme stepped in to facilitate the green fodder silage (succulent green fodder). By providing the necessary machinery and technical know-how, the department helped the FPO turn a crop residue product into a high-value commodity, ensuring year-round fodder for cattle and a new revenue stream for the organisation. The core of the transformation is collectivisation. Instead of individual farmers selling ungraded onions or maize at the mercy of a trader’s price, FPOs now aggregate, grade, and sell in bulk.

“If the local market price is Rs 100/kg, a professionalised FPO can find a buyer at Rs 110/kg through better grading and direct linkage. That extra Rs 10 goes directly back to the farmer members,” department officials explained.

Watershed Development Department Commissioner Upendra Pratap Singh said that the department is strengthening the FPO ecosystem. FPOs are receiving support under the REWARD, the WDC 2.0 programme, the AMRUTH FPO scheme and the 10,000 FPO scheme. A recent FPO Mela where several FPOs participated and facilitated 65 buyer-seller meetings, resulting in Letters of Intent (Lols) with a deal value of Rs 57.42 crore.

Dal mill assisted under REWARD Programme for Kayaka Krushi Mitra FPO Koppal.