IRFC CSR support helps women-led FPO build turmeric value chain in Jharkhand

West Singhbhum, Jharkhand: A CSR intervention by the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) is helping a women-led Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) in Jharkhand diversify farm incomes and take its first steps towards building a complete turmeric value chain. The initiative was recently highlighted by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, which noted that Elangdolang Farmer Producer Co. Ltd., a women-led FPO in West Singhbhum with 2,705 farmer members, is cultivating turmeric as an intercrop using rhizomes provided through IRFC's CSR support. The intervention is being implemented in West Singhbhum under the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PM-DDKY), which focuses on improving agricultural productivity, encouraging crop diversification, strengthening post-harvest management and creating better market opportunities for farmers. For Elangdolang's members, the support goes beyond introducing turmeric as an additional crop. The CSR assistance has provided the critical starting input, turmeric rhizomes, while the FPO model offers a platform through which farmers can collectively produce, aggregate and eventually process and market the crop. The larger objective is to develop a complete turmeric value chain, enabling farmers to move beyond the sale of raw produce towards activities such as aggregation, grading, processing, packaging, branding and market linkage. This could allow a greater...