The Farmer Producer Organization Platform for India, the only comprehensive database of Indian farmer producer organizations (FPOs), will be transferred to India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare under an agreement with the platform’s creator, the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI). The platform features a data dashboard with information on more than 260,000 FPOs, as well as a networking tool that facilitates connections with potential business partners.

According to the memorandum of understanding signed by TCI and the ministry on February 18, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare will host the platform while TCI and the ministry will work together as knowledge partners. TCI staff are currently working with ministry representatives to facilitate the transfer of the platform, including its technical architecture and data sources. TCI will also consult on potential new features to add to the platform in the future.

“As India continues its push to spur agricultural development through the promotion of FPOs, access to good data is key to ensuring success,” TCI Director Prabhu Pingali said. “Under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, the FPO Platform for India will continue to be an essential tool for researchers and policymakers, as well as businesses and FPOs themselves.”

The FPO Platform for India allows stakeholders to access a wealth of data on FPOs, and empowers FPOs to connect with potential business partners. (Photo illustration created with generative AI)

TCI created the platform in 2021, as part of a research project supported by the Walmart Foundation. Stakeholders can use the interactive dashboard to access a wealth of useful information, such as crops produced, services provided, supporting organizations and financial information. The platform also features a networking tool, FPOConnect, that enables FPOs to create personalized business profiles and interact with potential business partners and service providers.

TCI researchers recently used the data dashboard to prepare a report, “The State of Farmer Producer Organizations in India: Performance, Trends and the Role of Gender.”

FPOs help small farms, which comprise the majority of farms in India, to jointly reduce costs and improve market access, helping to drive higher agricultural productivity, enhanced food security, and livelihood development. The Indian government has thrown its support behind FPOs as a means of agricultural development, incentivizing their promotion through the Central Sector Scheme for the Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs, which aimed to create 10,000 FPOs by 2025.

“The FPO Platform for India will provide huge support for farmers, because it will work as a conduit between the market and FPOs, while the private sector will also benefit,” said Chinmay Gotmare, joint secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. “TCI has given us a baby which can walk. Now, it is our job to nourish it and nurture it so that it can do better.

Featured image: TCI Director Prabhu Pingali and Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Joint Secretary Chinmay Gotmare signed the memorandum of understanding transferring the FPO Platform for India to the ministry on February 18, 2026. (Photo by TCI)