GUWAHATI: With an aim to strengthening the agro-economy in the State, the First State Level Conclave-cum-Exhibition of the Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) was held in Guwahati on Tuesday at the Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra. Organized by the Assam Agribusiness & Rural Transformation Project (APART), the conclave aims to facilitate a platform for the registered FPCs of the State, stated an official communique. Addressing the gathering as chief guest, Assam's Minister of Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Atul Bora said that productivity has increased in the State, which has been made possible due to various schemes undertaken by the Government to provide maximum benefit to the farmers under subsidy schemes. Further, the Government is also planning to start Millet Mission in the coming days. Farmers today are also taking keen interest in diversification of crops, which is an added boost to the agricultural sector, the Minister stated. Bora also reiterated the need to mitigate the issue of middlemen in the supply chain. The State Government is considering to set up milk processing plants and pork processing plants to help the local youth and farmers, the Minister mentioned. Additionally, to ease the process of harvest, Combined Harvester will be distributed amongst the farmers at a subsidized rate. The, Minister along with other dignitaries, also launched the Agri Horticulture Newsletter on the occasion. Dr Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam, Agriculture Production Commissioner & SPD, ARIAS Society, during his welcome address laid stress on the need to leverage more credit access to the farmers. FPCs are the backbone of the agro economy, Bhutani added. Anant Lal Gyani, Director Agriculture, mentioned the FPC initiatives, their current status and future prospects for the farming community. The FPC programme aims to prepare the farmers to access wider markets and function as a private limited company owned and managed by the farmers. Speaking on the occasion, Naveen Dhingra, Chief General Manager of NABARD, assured to support the agri sector. Triranga Bharatiya Borah, Director Horticulture, emphasized the importance of FPCs and how it will help the farmers of the State. APART aims to support 125 FPCs in the respective project districts. Each FPC will have a Common Service Centre (CSC) and Custom Hiring Centre (CHC) Besides asset creation at the FPC level, APART also provides capacity building programmes (training, exposure visits etc. ) for the FPC members on different aspects, such as FPC Management, accounting, farm machinery operation and maintenance, and improved production technology, post-harvest management and value addition etc. APART, also focuses on establishing a proper market linkage of the FPCs at the local, national and international levels. Present in this day-long event were Manoj Kumar Das, MD, NERAMAC and officials from SFAC, APEDA, Agri and allied departments, Agri entrepreneurs, traders, exporters, bankers and financial institutions, and FPC members from Assam , Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal Also Read : Minister Parimal Suklabaidya reviews APART schemes Also Watch:.