Vol. 12, Issue 2 (2023)

Author(s):
Manisha Barman, Pabitra Kumar Das, Dibakar Mohodi, Trilochan Karki Chetri and Dipankar Saikia

Abstract:
The Farmer Producer Company model is considered to be a very effective tool for overall socio-economic development of small and marginal farmers in India. To authenticate this claim, a survey was conducted in two farmer producer companies of Assam, which are dealing with commercial potato production. The study was undertaken in Nagaon (Sankar Azan Agro Producer Company) and Biswanath (Satbhani Potato Producer Company) districts of Assamto measure the entrepreneurial behaviour of Farmer Producer Company (FPC) members with reference to commercial potato production with a sample of 120 farmer members from the six selected villages following a proportionate random sampling technique. To measure the entrepreneurial behaviour of the members of FPC, the scale developed by Rao (1985) was used. Findings revealed that majority i.e. 48.33 per cent of the respondents were prospective entrepreneurs, possessing a mix of both external and internal locus of control. While 31.67 per cent of the respondents highlighting more of internal locus of control belonged to the category of entrepreneurial internals, the remainder 20.00 per cent was entrepreneurial externals, showing more external locus of control. The mean value (2.27) indicated that on an average the sample tended to lean towards the prospective entrepreneur category, with the scores of individual respondents tending to cluster around the mean as depicted by the standard deviation value (0.83). The members of FPC displaying entrepreneurial externality need to be nurtured through hand holding to pursue their business profitably. Capacity building activities may be organized to enhance their level of motivation, self-belief and confidence.