NEW DELHI: Farmers in tribal states are joining hands to form corporate structures as the Narendra Modi government ’s ‘Farm to Fork’ programme begins a quiet rollout even as the much-criticised APMC law is yet to be exorcised.Over 2,000 farmer organisations in Chhattisgarh Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will be incubated to grow into a cooperative society, trust and ultimately, a company, as part of the plan being implemented by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, the country’s largest development lender."We have already identified over 300 farmer groups...We will be hand-holding them, helping with registrations and business process re-engineering to facilitate their take off," Nabard chairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwala told ET.These organisations will get help at each level -- from sourcing of inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and pesticides to machine requirements for management of farms, processing of produce, marketing and linking up with large value chains.The Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act has been amended in some states to allow farmers to sell perishables directly to consumers to help farmers get better value for their harvest. However, even where the act has been amended, constraints on farmers and large customers remain, such as multiple registration requirements and limitations on sourcing of perishable fruits and vegetables.Nabard will use a Rs 200 crore fund set up by the government to provide initial-stage funding besides additional money through its NBFC arm. The move is aimed at facilitating creation of structures that would take the country’s farm sector to the next level by bringing in cost efficiencies. The government has identified agrireforms to enhance productivity and value as a key focus area."Land holdings in the country have come down from the 80s...Thus, farmers organisations can help in bringing costs down and making agriculture more efficient," Bhanwala said.These structures permit pooling of land so that farmers can come together and benefit from greater use of technology and reap the benefits of scale.Nabard has also launched a digitisation programme for self-help groups in rural India that can be expanded to offer multiple products, including government services and the sale of consumer goods."I don’t mind if an FMCG company wants to use the platform to sell its products," he said.The bank funded 44 lakh self-help groups through a programme called e-Shakti. The pilot digitisation project was started in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand.This platform will allow members to receive transaction information through SMS, a facility that till now has been used only by banks.It also uses the Aadhaar identity programme, which helps curb the practice of multiple loans."There are 74 lakh SHGs of which 44 lakh are bank funded...We are now looking to digitise them by providing tablets which is on a platform hosted by Nabard," Bhanwala said, adding that the second pilot project is being launched in Dhule in Maharashtra.The programme will be expanded to 10 districts before a countrywide rollout, he added.