Vol. 12, Issue 3 (2023)

Author(s):
Chandana L, SV Halakatti, DA Nityashree and Vilas Kulkarni

Abstract:
A Farmer Producer Organization, formed by a group of farm producers, is a registered body with producers as shareholders in the organization. It deals with business activities related to the farm produce and it works for the benefit of the member producers. The present study was conducted in Dharwad district of Karnataka during 2021-22 to study the knowledge about functioning of FPOs in Dharwad district. Four talukas from Dharwad district-Dharwad, Hubli, Kalghatgi and Kundgol are selected. From each FPO 30 respondents were selected by simple random sampling technique. Thus, a total sample of 120 farmers were selected for conducting their search work. The study revealed that a large majority of the members possessed knowledge about the input supply service (88.33%) and machineries supply from the FPOs (77.50%). More than half of the members know the functions of FPOs like promotion and use of modern agricultural practices and agri. infrastructure services (56.60%), dissemination of the new technologies and innovations (52.50%). Knowledge was positively and significantly influenced by annual income, extension contact and market orientation of the members of FPOs at 1% level of significance whereas cosmopolite ness and innovativeness was positively significant at 5% level of significance and other variables did not exhibit any significant relationship with the knowledge. Therefore, the FPO should become more active and the office bearer should take initiative in extending all the facilities of the FPOs to its members. Further, they have to seek co-ordination and co-operation of all the members in different activities. Thus they can create awareness about different functions of FPOs.