Introduction

The objective of setting up the Small Farmers' Agribusiness Consortium, (SFAC) has been to promote a new paradigm of agricultural and rural development, based on the integrated application of the principles of ecological sustainability, social equity and economic viability. The initiative which was intended to bring drastic changes in the rural scenario was announced by the Hon'ble Prime Minister and the then Dr. Manmohan Singh, Union Finance Minister, in his budget speech in February, 1992. To quote him

“Special attention needs to be paid to supporting innovative ideas for generating income and employment in rural areas through support to various types of agri-business. As an experimental measure, government proposes to set up a Small Farmers' Agribusiness Consortium as an autonomous corporate entity funded by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), NABARD, and IDBI. The consortium will include representation from various development boards dealing with individual crops and public sector corporations dealing with agriculture and agro-industries, private sector companies, banks, scientific organizations and the farmers' organizations”.