National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED)

About NAFED:

• NAFED is an apex organization of marketing cooperatives for agricultural produce in India.
• It was founded on 2 October 1958 to promote the trade of agricultural produce and forest resources across the nation.
• It is registered under the Multi State Co-operative Societies Act.
• With its headquarters in New Delhi, NAFED has four regional offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, apart from 28 zonal offices in capitals of states and important cities.

What are the Functions?

• It is the nodal agency to implement price stabilization measures under “Operation Greens” which aims to double the farmers’ income by 2022.
• Along with FCI the NAFED is involved in the procurement of oilseeds, pulses and copra under the Price Support Scheme (PSS).

What is Operation Greens?

• In the budget 2018-19, a new Scheme “Operation Greens” was announced on the line of “Operation Flood”, with an outlay of Rs.500 crore.
• Objective: To stabilize the supply of Tomato, Onion and Potato (TOP) crops and to ensure the availability of TOP crops throughout the country around the year without price volatility.

Q1) What is a Co-operative Society?

A Co-operative Society is an organization that is formed by a group of people whose primary objective is the promotion of the economic interests of its members. This is achieved by the Cooperative sharing its profits amongst its members, in proportion to their contribution to the Cooperative’s business, from which its overall profits are derived.

Source: Union Agriculture Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar has directed NAFED, its Nodal Organization to contribute to and promote the ‘International Year of the Millet’ 2023 on a global scale