Agricultural research and development institutions have generally focused on productivity related issues and taken the relevant technologies of crop production to farmers via industry and market. Farmers have generally been seen as producers of crops without any stakes further on. Linking of farmers to markets, a relatively recent and welcome trend in some countries has generally happened for facilitating disposal of farm produce. Unless protected by policies, even this linkage can work more in favor of markets than the farmers. A new model making farmers as stakeholders in farm-produce to the end, right in their rural settings, is proposed. Authors call this as Producer Company (PC) concept. PC is a company of the farmers, by the farmers and for the farmers, financially facilitated by local government, but managed by professionals, leaving farmers to farm and on-farm activities. This is expected to make rural areas as hub of economic activities.

(taken from Alleviating Rural Poverty through Low-cost and Biological Approaches of Crop Production and Innovative Market System, O P Rupela, S Mehta, CLL Gowda

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