Friedman-based Ranking for Unveiling Constraints Perceived by Members of Farmer Producer Organizations in Bihar

AbstractThe current study presents the constraints faced by member farmers of Farmer Producer Organizations in Bihar. Farmer Producer Organization unites small and marginal farmers and conquers agriculture and marketing hurdles and others. The collective action empowers primary producers as it boosts profits and eliminates middlemen participation. Two FPOs were chosen from Pusa and Kalyanpur blocks of Samastipur district. Disproportionate stratified random sampling was adopted to select 30 member-farmers from each FPO which constitute 60 FPO members. A well-structured interview schedule was prepared to collect the data from 60 member farmers of FPO. Within five broad constraints rank was assigned based on frequency and percentage viz., uncertainty regarding the field-worthiness of FPOs, postponement of profit sharing, absence of adequate storage facilities and others are the major specific constraints faced by members farmers of FPOs. Friedman test results revealed the order of most severe broad constraints faced by FPO members were economic constraint (Friedman Mean Rank, FMR=4.27) was ranked first as constraint, followed by marketing (FMR=3.22), managerial (FMR=3.00), social & psychological (FMR=2.86), and technical (FMR=1.66) constraints respectively. Asymptotic significance was found 0.000 (p<0.001) with chi-square value of 88.011 having 4 degree of freedom. Significance level from Monte Carlo analysis at a 99 percent Confidence Interval (CI) indicates notable variations among the five broad constraints. The study concludes that FPOs should be strengthen with the funds provided by Bihar government as well as NABARD. So, that above-mentioned constraints can be reduced gradually.