Uttarakhand Cooperative Federation: can it help the horticulture farmers?

Uttarakhand state had a unique advantage of hilly weather that was suitable for cultivation of some fruits and vegetables, which were in great demand in plains during off-seasons there. Out of the total net margin accruing to the entire supply chain of these fruits and vegetables, only 25% went to the farmers despite they bearing disproportionately high market risk and the entire production risk. The Uttarakhand State Cooperative Federation (UCF) was created with a mandate to strengthen the cooperative structure in the state. The organisation had to decide a course of action that would improve the returns for the fruits and vegetable farmers in the state. The managing director of the federation had identified three alternative courses of action: first, to take up the primary value addition activity of an aggregator; second, to take up the higher value addition activities of processing fruits and vegetables; and third, to take up retailing of fruits and vegetables on behalf of the farmer members. The chairman of the federation was wondering which alternative was appropriate; or was there some other option too.