India ranks first in number of organic farmers and ninth in terms of area under organic farming. Sikkim became the first state in the world to become fully organic. Northeast India has traditionally been organic and the consumption of chemicals is far less than the rest of the country. Similarly, the tribal and island territories are being nurtured to continue their organic story.

The agriculture ministry has said that e-commerce platform ‘Jaivikkheti’ is being strengthened for directly linking farmers with retail as well as bulk buyers.

Organic farming in India

Natural farming is not a new concept in India, with farmers having tilled their land without the use of chemicals — largely relying on organic residues, cow dung, compost, etc.

The philosophy underlying organic farming of integration of the elements – soil, water, microbes and ‘waste’ products, forestry and agriculture is the correct recipe for sustainable use of natural resources, which are coming under severe stress due to ever increasing requirement of food and feedstock for agri based industry. This is also in sync with the Sustainable Development Goal 2 targeting ‘end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture’.

The growth story of organic farming is unfolding with increasing demand not only in India but also globally. In a world battered by the pandemic, the demand for healthy and safe food is already showing an upward trend and hence this is an opportune moment to be captured for a win-win situation for farmers, consumers and the environment.

Modest commencement of exports from Assam, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland to UK, USA, Swaziland and Italy have proved the potential by increasing volumes and expanding to new destinations as the demand for healthy food increases.

Key points:

With the thrust given by the Agriculture Export Policy 2018, India can emerge as a major player in global organic markets. The major organic exports from India have been flax seeds, sesame, soybean, tea, medicinal plants, rice and pulses, which were instrumental in driving an increase of nearly 50 per cent in organic exports in 2018-19, touching Rs 5,151 crore.

With the aim of assisting farmers to adopt organic farming and improve remunerations due to premium prices, two dedicated programmes — Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCDNER) and Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) — were launched in 2015. About 40,000 clusters are being assisted under PKVY covering an area of about 7 lakh hectares. MOVCD has brought in its fold 160 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) cultivating about 80,000 hectares. 

For these clusters to become sustainable, it is important that market led production starts in a contract farming mode, so that there is a ready market for the produce and industry also gets the desired quality and quantity when required. This is being pursued in right earnest with bulk buyers including the phyto extracts industries. The commodities with highest potential include ginger, turmeric, black rice, spices, nutri cereals, pineapples, medicinal plants, buckwheat, bamboo shoots, etc. 

Certification is an important element of organic produce to instill customer confidence. Both PKVY and MOVCDNER are promoting certification under Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) and National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) targeting domestic and exports markets. The Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulations, 2017 are based on the standards of NPOP and PGS. There are logos of FSSAI, Jaivik Bharat/PGS Organic India on the produce to establish the organic authenticity. PGS Green is given to chemical-free produce under transition to ‘organic’ which takes 3 years.

The presence of aggregators is imperative to bring about economies of scale for the small and marginal farmers. Hence the concept of market led One District-One Product is being encouraged, as also development of more clusters in the vicinity of bigger towns where the appetite for organic  will be much more.

Infusion of digital technology in a much bigger way has been a major takeaway during the pandemic period and is a welcome norm here to stay, saving in expenses on travel, logistics, etc while not compromising in any way on the quality of information sharing. The e-commerce platform www.jaivikkheti.in is being strengthened.

Schemes supporting organic farming

The government under the schemes — PKVY and MOVCDNER is supporting the production and marketing of organic produce in the country to reduce cost and price.

Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region

Realising the potential of organic farming in the North Eastern region of the country, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare launched a central sector scheme Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER). It is implemented in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. 

The scheme aims at development of certified organic production in a value chain mode to link growers with consumers and to support the development of the entire value chain starting from inputs, seeds, certification and creation of facilities for collection, aggregation, processing, marketing and brand building initiative.

Objectives of MOVCDNER:

• To develop crop commodity specific organic value chain and address gaps in organic crop production, wild crop harvesting, organic livestock management and processing handling and marketing of organic agricultural products.

• To empower producers with programme ownership by organising them into Farmers Interest Groups (FIGs) with the final aim to federate into farmer producer organisations/companies.

• To replace conventional farming/subsistence farming system into local resource based, self sustainable, high value commercial organic enterprise.

• Developing commodity specific commercial organic value chain under integrated and concentrated approach with end-to-end facilities for production, processing, storage and marketing.

• Development of organic parks/zones with facilities for collection, aggregation, value addition, processing, storage and market-linkages for specific commodities requiring capital intensive technology.

Financial assistance is given for setting up of the following:

* Functional infrastructure for collection, aggregation, grading units and North-Eastern (NE) organic bazaar will get Rs 15 lakh (75 per cent subsidy).

* Integrated Processing Units with Total Financial Outlay (TFO) of Rs 800 lakh or more limited to 75 per cent to Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) and 50 per cent to private entrepreneurs as credit linked back ended subsidy.

* Integrated pack house with 75 per cent subsidy to FPCs on TFO of 50 lakh or more and 50 per cent to private entrepreneurs or maximum of Rs 37.50 lakh whichever is less as credit linked back ended subsidy.

* Transportation/four wheeler up to TFO of Rs 12 lakh (50 per cent).

* Refrigerated transport vehicle/pre-cooling/cold stores/ripening chambers upto TFO of Rs 25 lakh (75 per cent subsidy to FPC and 50 per cent to private).

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY)

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY) a sub-component of Soil Health Management (SHM) scheme under National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) aims at development of sustainable models of organic farming through a mix of traditional wisdom and modern science to ensure long term soil fertility buildup, resource conservation and helps in climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Objectives of PKVY:

• To promote natural resource based integrated and climate resilient sustainable farming systems that ensure maintenance and increase of soil fertility, natural resource conservation, on-farm nutrient recycling and minimize dependance of farmers on external inputs.

• To reduce the cost of agriculture to farmers through sustainable integrated organic farming systems thereby enhancing farmer’s net income per unit of land.

• To sustainably produce chemical free and nutritious food for human consumption.

• To protect the environment from hazardous inorganic chemicals by adoption of eco-friendly low cost traditional techniques and farmer friendly technologies.

• To empower farmers through their own institutional development in the form of clusters and groups with capacity to manage production, processing, value addition and certification management.

• To make farmers entrepreneurs through direct market linkages with local and national markets.