The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for setting up and promoting a national-level cooperative society for organic products to manage the entire supply chain of organic products produced by cooperative and related entities through member cooperatives. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took the decision to provide thrust to organic products from the cooperative sector by acting as an umbrella organisation for managing various activities related to the organic sector.
The national-level cooperative society for organic products will be set up under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002 with support from relevant Ministries especially the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (M/Doner) through their policies, schemes and agencies following the ‘Whole of the Government Approach’, said a Ministry Cooperation statement.
The Prime Minister has observed that all efforts should be made to leverage the strengths of cooperatives and transform them into successful and vibrant business enterprises to realise the vision of “Sahakar-se-Samriddhi”. It is thus imperative for the cooperatives to think globally and act locally to leverage their comparative advantage, it said. Therefore, there is a felt need for a national-level cooperative society to be registered under the Second Schedule of the MSCS Act, 2002.
Primary to national level cooperatives societies including primary societies, district, state and national level federations, multi-state cooperative societies and Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) can become its Members, said the statement, adding “all these cooperatives will have their elected representatives in the Board of the society as per its bye-laws”.
“The cooperative society will manage various activities related to the organic sector by providing certified and authentic organic products. It will help in unlocking the demand and consumption potential of organic products in domestic as well as in global markets. This society will also help cooperatives and ultimately their farmer members in getting benefits of the high price of organic products through aggregation, branding and marketing on a large scale by facilitating testing and certification at affordable cost.”
The cooperative society will also provide institutional support for aggregation, certification, testing, procurement, storage, processing, branding, labelling, packaging, logistic facilities, marketing of organic products and arranging financial assistance to the organic farmers through its members’ cooperatives including Primary Agricultural Credit Societies/Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) and will take up all promotion and development related activities of organic products with the help of various schemes and agencies of the Government, it said.
“It will empanel accredited organic testing labs and certification bodies who meet the criteria specified by the society to bring down the cost of testing and certification.”
The society will manage the entire supply chain of organic products produced by cooperatives and related entities through member cooperatives, mentions the statement.
It will utilise the services of the national cooperative export society being set up under the MSCS Act, 2002 for export marketing and thereby enhance the reach and demand of organic products in the global market.
The society will also facilitate in providing technical guidance, training and capacity building of organic producers and developing and maintaining a dedicated market intelligence system for organic produce, said the statement, adding “while promoting organic farming, a balanced approach will be maintained between regular mass farming and organic farming.”
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