Women-led Farmer Producer Companies in India are emerging as powerful vehicles to recognise women as farmers, dismantle land-ownership based definitions, and turn SHG members into agribusiness entrepreneurs.
Backed by new laws, global initiatives and SRLM support, WFPCs can reshape gender roles, strengthen climate-smart agriculture, and give women formal ownership, leadership and market bargaining power across agrifood value chains.
“The future of Indian agriculture will be stronger when women move from being agricultural workers to being agricultural decision-makers. Women Farmer Producer Companies can be the institutional bridge that transforms women’s labour into ownership, financial agency and entrepreneurship.”Nandini Ghanekar, Project Director, District Rural Development Agency, Sangli, Maharashtra
The concept of the Farmer Producer Company (FPC) in India originated from the recommendations of the Y.K. Alagh Committee in the early 2000s. The FPC framework was introduced in 2002 by incorporating into the Companies Act, 1956. This initiative was further strengthened under the Companies Act, 2013. An FPC is a legal entity collectively owned by primary producers and designed to collectivise farmers, fishers, and village artisans, FPCs are currently most visible among farmers across India.
The primary objective of an FPC is to collectivise marginal and small farmers, enabling them to access markets through product aggregation and enhance their collective bargaining power. Acting as a hybrid between cooperatives and corporate companies, this model provides mutual benefits to its members similar to a cooperative, while offering the corporate competitiveness required for Agrifood market.
Around 89.4 per ecnt of farming households in India consist of small and marginal farmers holding less than two hectares of land. Agriculture contributes around 18 per cent to the national GDP. A study by the Tata-Cornell Institute and BIRD released in February 2026 reveals that out of 44,547 total registered FPCs in India, 6,442 are women-led (around 15 per cent). Various State Rural Livelihoods Mission (SRLM) programs are actively working to graduate women’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs) into formal FPCs.
Historically, women have performed specific, labour-intensive tasks in Indian agriculture, such as seed preservation, transplanting, weeding, and harvesting. However, they have rarely been recognised as “farmers” as farmers are defined as “land owners”. Despite their vital roles, women are seldom granted decision-making powers or economic ownership of their produce.
Over the last two decades, state-led efforts have emerged to recognise women as farmers by targeting them as beneficiaries under different central and state-sponsored schemes (e.g., MKSP, ATMA). Central schemes now mandate that at least 30 per cent of funds and benefits be earmarked specifically for women farmers.
In July 2026, the Maharashtra Assembly passed the Maharashtra Women Farmers Empowerment Act, 2026, becoming the first state to grant activity-based legal recognition to women farmers via a “Woman Farmer Certificate,” which decouples farmer identity from land ownership. Under the SRLM, Krishi Sakhis are also being promoted to train women farmers in agricultural skills and promote organic farming.
Furthermore, the United Nations declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF 2026). This initiative spotlights the essential roles women play across agrifood systems—from production to trade—which often go unrecognised. Women farmers remain central to food security, nutrition, and economic resilience. IYWF 2026 aims to raise awareness and promote global action to close gender gaps and improve women’s livelihoods worldwide. The core focus rests on recognising women as leaders, knowledge keepers, and climate adapters.
The history of the Women Farmers Producer Company (WFPC) is rooted in the SHG movements of the 1970s, which have evolved into the largest women-led microfinance initiative in the world. This movement has been patronised by the government since the 1990s with the perspective of empowering women, overcoming gender stereotypes through financial inclusion, providing access to credit, promoting leadership skills, and creating platforms to address social issues.
SHGs have significantly extended the social mobility of women within their communities. Actions like dismantling illegal liquor distilleries is a loud example of SHG social initiative across different parts of India; furthermore, many SHG leaders have successfully transitioned into political roles as Panchayat Pradhans. As of February 2026, over 102.9 million rural households in the country have been mobilised into SHGs under DAY-NRLM.
Sustainability remains a challenge, data indicates that out of the total FPCs promoted nationwide, only 43 per cent to 49 per cent continue to operate effectively once formal government financial support concludes. This highlights the urgent need to design strategies for the sustainable, independent functioning of WFPCs.
While women increasingly play essential roles across agrifood value chains and contribute substantially to the agricultural economy, they are still rarely independent enough to make decisive choices within the household farm economy—such as buying inputs, purchasing machinery, or selling farm produce. This limitation stems from embedded structural inequalities that restrict women’s access to information, resources, opportunities, and strategic decision-making.
Because women are culturally left less informed regarding these economic roles, men largely control these decisions, as they are traditionally perceived to be better equipped with market intelligence and exposure and experience. WFPCs represent an opportunity for a major structural shift, preparing women to actively drive and manage the agricultural sector. Abundant evidence across India shows that the SHG initiative has immensely helped women step out of confined domestic gender roles, transforming their identities from passive farm labourers into 21st-century agribusiness entrepreneurs.
WFPCs are powerful tools for women’s empowerment, enabling women to become informed enterprisers to take decisive actions, and build a gender-inclusive farm economy. FPCs provide unique opportunities for remote rural women to be formally recognised as company shareholders and Boards of Directors. This transition requires gender differentiated transformative actions and sensible consideration on gender biased social ecosystem.
Community-level actions: Deep-rooted challenges exist at the household and community levels. It is vital to orient both women and men visualise the benefits of a WFPC. Intensive community engagement is required, specifically targeting men, rather than women. Reshaping deeply ingrained social conditioning is a primary requirement to create a level playing field where women can confidently occupy decisive, enterprising roles.
Policy-level actions: Policies must articulate this paradigm shift through time-bound, measurable action plans. Because many women are new to the competitive skills required for contemporary farming—such as precision agriculture, climate-compliant practices, and regenerative farming—intensive capacity building is essential. This includes training in sustainable farm practices, value-chain mechanics, post-harvest management, supply chain negotiations, and financial literacy to engage effectively with buyers and bankers.
Market orientation: Handholding support must be intentionally designed to introduce WFPCs to modern digital market opportunities. This includes orienting them to commodity hedging and digital marketing avenues in order to protect produce pricing via platforms like NCDEX, e-NAM, ONDC, GeM, and APEDA.
Time-bound metrics: Progress must be visibly measurable rather than merely tracking just the number of women covered under various schemes. Policies should outline clear transition roadmaps to transform a woman’s role from passive family labour providers to active stakeholders and directors of companies in a professionally competitive, resilient enterprise.
Financial support: Extreme and erratic climate conditions make the modern agricultural economy highly unpredictable and vulnerable to global market shocks. Policy frameworks must financially back women, helping them withstand vulnerabilities and building their capacity to take calculated, informed business risks as confident market players.
Gender-inclusive market spaces: Traditional local mandis (marketplaces) remain heavily male-dominated, creating severe mobility and safety barriers for women. Basic issues, such as the complete absence of clean public washrooms for women must be corrected to make physical agricultural marketplaces accessible and women-friendly.
Historically, an FPC’s performance has been evaluated strictly by financial indicators like the business value reflected on its balance sheet. However, this approach overlooks critical metrics like women’s leadership; adoption rate of climate-compliant, sustainable agricultural practices and social indicators.
The institution of the WFPC opens up unprecedented possibilities for 21st-century agricultural food markets. Driven by global demand for climate-smart regenerative agriculture, safer food systems, and nutrient-dense diets, WFPCs can lead the way by explicitly interlinking these opportunities.
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth