Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology

Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) are platforms that serve for the growth and development of farmers in both rural and urban areas. Social capital is an asset that is studied by observing interactions and the relationships prevailing in collective organizations. In this paper, we study the contribution of social capital which is a critical element in the effective progress of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs).

Level of derived benefits is one of the five components of Social Capital of the FPOs. Forty actively functioning Farmer Producer Organizations in Southern districts of Tamil Nadu were taken for this study. The sub components of derived benefits include eliminating intermediaries, marketable produce, better price for produce, quality consciousness, declining migration, access to resources, advance payment facility, assured price, livelihood improvement and provision of enhanced advisory (These are the 10 criteria under which the level of derived benefits was studied). Mean scores and percentage analysis were calculated to examine the contribution of each subcomponent in the sample of organizations. The results indicate that the components of Social Capital such as marketable produce, better prices for produce, quality consciousness, declining migration, access to resources, assured price, livelihood improvement, and provision of enhanced advice have been gained by more than half of the FPOs. Areas like eliminating intermediaries and advance payment facilities should be focused more on increasing social capital which in turn increases the performance of the organizations.