The West Bengal State Co-operative Marketing Federation Limited

History

West Bengal State Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd. popularly known as BENFED has been registered under WBCS Act 1940 with following broad objectives:

1. Marketing of agricultural produce from the farmers through its affiliated cooperative society.
2. Supply of different agricultural inputs to the farmers through its affiliated cooperative society.
3. Provide technical consultancy to its member cooperatives for construction of Rice Mills, Cold Storages, and agri-processing units.

At the time of registration in 1958 the name of the organization was West Bengal Apex Cooperative Marketing Society Ltd. Trade name BENFED come into existence in the year1976.

BENFED is the federation of block level cooperative Marketing and Processing Societies. Marketing Societies belongs to A class category of members and the Processing Societies are B class members. Primary Agricultural Credit Societies can be affiliated as D class(nominal) member without any voting right.

AREA OF OPERATION of BENFED is the whole of West Bengal and the number of member is 277.

2008-09 was the Golden Jubilee year of BENFED. This fifty-year journey is remarkable in many respects. During sixties BENFED was the only agency of the Government to provide support to the framers. In fact BENFED has developed the habit of use chemical fertilizers amongst the farmers as per guidance of the State Agriculture Department.

BENFED is the single window cooperative agency of the farmers to get their entire range of inputs requirement and to sell their agriculture produce. Even the farmers can store their produces in the Cooperative Cold Storages constructed under technical guidance of BENFED.

To provide remunerative price to the jute growers BENFED constructed 12 Jute Complexes having facility of assortment, bailing and storage with capacity of 33600 MT during eighties.

BENFED has a wide spread network of Warehouse all over the state having storage capacity of 64500 MT fertilizer and 33600 MT Jute /Food grain. At present a good number of godowns used for storing of PDS Rice.