Socio-economic determinants of small and marginal farmers’ attitudes towards FPO services in South Gujarat

Introduction

In recent years, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) have gained prominence as a collective institutional model aimed at improving the livelihoods of small and marginal farmers in India. These farmer-owned entities are designed to function as hybrid institutions, combining the benefits of cooperatives and private enterprises to enhance farmers' access to markets, inputs, infrastructure, and value addition opportunities (Bairwa et al., 2014; Meena et al., 2021) [1,11] . Particularly in agriculturally dominant regions such as Banaskantha district in Gujarat, where rural households often struggle with fragmented landholdings, low bargaining power, and irregular income flows, FPOs represent a promising intervention for inclusive rural development. The socio-economic characteristics of member farmers play a significant role in determining their level of participation and engagement with FPOs. Attributes such as education, income, landholding size, household type, and social networks influence not only the decision to join but also the perception of benefits and trust in the organization's governance and services (Saxena & Tyagi, 2017; Singh & Meena, 2019) [13,11,16] . Educated farmers are more likely to understand the technical, financial, and managerial aspects of FPOs, while joint family structures may offer better labor availability and risk-sharing, enhancing participation (Jaiswal et al., 2019; Sharma & Singh, 2020) [8,14] . Similarly, farmers with higher income levels and diversified livelihoods-such as those involved in animal husbandry or agri-business-tend to demonstrate a more favorable attitude towards FPOs due to their greater exposure to market dynamics and entrepreneurial orientation (Chand et al., 2017; Birthal et al., 2015) [5,4] . Despite the increasing popularity of FPOs across the country, several challenges persist. Issues related to transparency in financial transactions, equitable participation in decision-making, outdated technical support, and limited government convergence continue to affect member satisfaction and trust (Saxena & Tyagi, 2017; Singh, Meena, & Kant, 2021) [13,17,11] . Moreover, motivation to join FPOs is often driven by peer influence and social networks rather than institutional promotion, underlining the importance of informal channels in shaping www.extensionjournal.com farmer behavior (Sharma & Singh, 2020) [14] . Given this context, the present study seeks to explore the socioeconomic determinants that shape farmers' attitudes towards FPOs in the Banaskantha district of Gujarat. By examining variables such as education, income, family structure, and duration of membership, this research aims to provide empirical insights that can guide policymakers, development practitioners, and FPO promoters in designing more responsive and inclusive interventions that strengthen farmer collectives and ensure long-term sustainability. The objectives of the study are as follows.  To study the socio-economic profile of small and marginal member farmers  To study the attitude of small and marginal member farmers towards the services provided by FPO's  To find out the association of small and marginal member farmers' profile and their attitude towards services provided by FPO's

Research Methodology

The present study adopted a descriptive research design and was carried out in the South Gujarat region. A multistage stratified random sampling technique was employed to select member farmers from Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). Fifteen FPOs were included in the study, and from each FPO, 30 small and marginal farmers were randomly selected, resulting in a total sample size of 450 respondents. Primary data were collected through personal interviews using a well-structured questionnaire developed in line with the specific objectives of the research. Secondary data were gathered from reports, journals, research articles, government publications, and company websites to provide relevant background and support to the study. The collected data were analyzed using appropriate statistical tools.

Frequency and percentage analysis were used to describe the distribution of responses, while mean scores were calculated to assess the average perceptions of farmers. A Likert scale ranging from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree" was used to measure farmers' attitudes and opinions. Standard deviation (S.D.) was computed to assess data variability. Further, correlation analysis was applied to examine the relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of member farmers and their attitudes towards FPO services. This method helped determine the strength and direction of association between continuous or ordinal variables such as age, education, landholding size, income level, and farming experience, and the attitude scores derived from the Likert scale.

Results and Discussion

The socio-economic and behavioural profile of FPO member farmers presented in [3] . A considerable proportion of farmers possessed 10-15 years of farming experience (36.67%) and moderate annual income levels, suggesting economic stability and decision-making capacity. Behavioural characteristics showed higher levels of credit orientation (49.55%), extension contact (43.33%), and innovativeness (45.43%), indicating active institutional linkage and openness towards new practices, which supports earlier findings on adoption behaviour and organizational participation (Rogers, 2003; Trebbin, 2014) [12,19] . Most farmers reported medium levels of training, social participation, market orientation, and scientific orientation, highlighting a gradual shift towards commercialization and collective action. Government or FPO officials emerged as the major motivational source for joining FPOs (36.57%), emphasizing the role of change agents in diffusion processes (Rogers, 2003) [12] . The majority had 3-5 years of FPO experience (37.72%), were mainly involved in aggregation activities (60.00%), and were located within 5-10 km of FPOs, suggesting reasonable accessibility. Overall, the findings indicate that middle-aged, moderately educated smallholders with favourable behavioural orientations form the core membership base, which is considered conducive for collective marketing and institutional development (Rogers, 2003; Trebbin, 2014; Birthal et al., 2017) [12,19,3] . [3,19] . However, moderate mean values for issues such as political influence, lack of awareness, limited member participation in decision-making, and operational difficulties indicate areas requiring improvement. Negative statements receiving moderate agreement suggest that while farmers acknowledge the benefits of FPOs, challenges related to governance, inclusiveness, and service delivery still persist. This aligns with the diffusion of innovation framework, where organizational effectiveness and member engagement influence adoption and sustained participation (Rogers, 2003) [12] . Overall, the results indicate a generally positive attitude among member farmers towards FPO services, with institutional benefits, risk reduction, and market support emerging as the most valued aspects. www.extensionjournal.com 3 presents the distribution of member farmers according to their overall attitude towards the services provided by FPOs. The results reveal that a majority of respondents (63.78%) exhibited a favourable attitude, while 21.56% showed a less favourable attitude and only 14.67% demonstrated a more favourable attitude. The mean attitude www.extensionjournal.com score of 76.58 with a standard deviation of 24.14 indicates a moderately positive perception of FPO services among small and marginal farmers. The predominance of favourable attitudes suggests that farmers recognize the benefits of collective action, improved market access, and institutional support offered by FPOs. These findings align with earlier studies which reported that participation in producer organizations enhances farmers' confidence, market orientation, and adoption behaviour (Birthal et al., 2017; Trebbin, 2014) [3,19] . At the same time, the presence of a considerable proportion of farmers with less favourable attitudes indicates the need for strengthening awareness, service delivery, and member participation mechanisms. According to the diffusion of innovation theory, positive attitudes towards institutional innovations play a crucial role in influencing adoption and sustained engagement among farmers (Rogers, 2003) [12] . Overall, the table highlights that FPOs are generally perceived positively, though continuous capacity building and improved governance may further enhance members' perceptions. The correlation analysis in Table 4 reveals significant insights into the relationship between various farmer profile characteristics and their attitude towards the services provided by Farmers' Producer Organizations (FPOs). The results show that education (r = 0.765) and mass media exposure (r = 0.815) have the strongest positive correlations with attitudes toward FPO services, indicating that higher levels of education and greater exposure to mass media are strongly associated with more favourable attitudes. Educated farmers are likely to better understand and appreciate the benefits of FPOs, while mass media exposure increases awareness and promotes favourable views, which is in line with the findings of Gavkare et al. (2025) [6] and Ghosh et al. (2025) [7] , who reported that education and information exposure significantly influence farmers' perception towards FPOs. Similarly, experience in FPOs (r = 0.869) shows the highest correlation, suggesting that direct experience with FPOs plays a crucial role in shaping positive attitudes, as observed in earlier studies on FPO participation and entrepreneurial behaviour (Jose et al., 2023) [9] . Moderate positive correlations are observed with farming experience (r = 0.466), annual income (r = 0.350), credit orientation (r = 0.545), extension contact (r = 0.425), innovative orientation (r = 0.559), economic orientation (r = 0.623), market orientation (r = 0.425), and scientific orientation (r = 0.658). These factors suggest that farmers with more experience, higher income, a preference for innovation, and a focus on economic and market considerations are more likely to appreciate FPO services, which is consistent with the results reported by Belli and Karuna (2025) [2] . Extension contact also appears important, as farmers who engage with agricultural extension services tend to have a more positive attitude toward FPOs, supporting earlier attitudinal studies (Mall & Tripathi, 2025) [10] . On the other hand, age (r = -0.043), household size (r = -0.281), and risk orientation (r = -0.051) show weak or negative correlations with attitudes toward FPOs, suggesting that older farmers, those with larger households, and more risk-averse individuals may be less inclined toward collective institutional models. However, the weak correlation for land holding (r = 0.011) indicates that farm size does not significantly influence farmers' perception of FPO services. Finally, social participation (r = 0.690) demonstrates a strong positive correlation, indicating that farmers who are more socially engaged tend to have a favourable view of FPOs, possibly because social engagement aligns with the collective action principles and participatory nature of FPOs, which has also been highlighted in earlier empirical studies (Ghosh et al., 2025; Gavkare et al., 2025) [7,6] .

Suggestions and

Conclusion

The study concludes that Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) have emerged as an effective institutional mechanism for enhancing the participation and improving the attitudes of small and marginal farmers in South Gujarat.

The findings clearly indicate that a majority of member farmers hold a favourable attitude towards FPO services, particularly in terms of access to government schemes, improved bargaining power, risk mitigation, and transparent payment systems. This reflects the growing recognition of FPOs as platforms that strengthen market access, reduce transaction costs, and provide institutional support to smallholders. The socio-economic and behavioural profile of the respondents suggests that middle-aged, moderately educated farmers with higher exposure to extension services, mass media, and collective activities are more actively engaged and exhibit more positive perceptions of FPOs. Correlation analysis further confirms that education, mass media exposure, experience in FPOs, social participation, and economic and scientific orientation play a decisive role in shaping favourable attitudes, whereas age, household size, and risk orientation show weak or negative associations. This highlights the importance of knowledge, experience, and social capital in sustaining farmer participation in collective institutions. Despite the overall positive outlook, the study also reveals certain challenges related to limited awareness, governance issues, unequal participation in decision-making, and service delivery gaps. The presence of a sizeable proportion of farmers with less favourable attitudes indicates the need for continuous efforts to strengthen transparency, inclusiveness, and responsiveness of FPOs. Overall, the study underscores that strengthening capacity building, information dissemination, extension contact, and participatory governance can significantly enhance farmers' engagement and satisfaction with FPOs. Policy interventions focused on digital literacy, institutional convergence, market-oriented strategies, and targeted support for older and risk-averse farmers will be crucial for improving the effectiveness and long-term sustainability of FPOs. By addressing these aspects, FPOs can play a transformative role in promoting inclusive agricultural development and improving the livelihoods of small and marginal farmers.

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