BioFach India, held during September 1-3, 2022, in Greater Noida emerged as a platform where government bodies, farmers and private stakeholders deliberated on the future of organic farm businesses in India. NuernbergMesse India in collaboration with APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) organised the expo and Millets India. It was co-located with Natural Expo India which was supported by Integrated Nutrient Management, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
The event received huge participation from numerous well-known companies, start-ups from the Organic, Millets and Natural industry and provided a common platform to Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (namely Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana) and Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region. This created an atmosphere of awareness, encouragement and positivity through panel discussions on important issues pertaining to the organic sector.
Current scenario
In recent times, organic farming and its produce are becoming popular. They are a growing market, not only in India but also in Asia. During the business session, several topics were taken into consideration to understand and identify the challenges and positive outcomes that could be harnessed. Vipin Saini, Chief Executive Officer, Biological Agri Solutions Association of India, said, “In 2015-16, the Government of India announced its support for organic farming through the Paraparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana and in 2021, it launched the Bharatiya Krishi Padhyati (natural farming). And somewhere in between, there was a mention of zero-budget farming.” He pointed out that there are several challenges involved. “We are doing 9 lakh tonne agro community exports and we are the fourth largest exporters of organic produce, but there are challenges like we can have agri inputs from outside like bio fertilisers, bio-stimulants and bio-pesticides, but till now nothing has been discussed about that inouts we use in natural farming for increased yield, etc., as to when the legal framework will be established.”
The business scope is immense. India being one of the largest organic producers in the world, is witnessing increase in awareness and acceptance on practising organic farming and selling its produce to Indian consumers and fir exports. The current scenario is encouraging as considerable governmental initiatives and research in academia and practice at the ground has taken place but a lot is yet to be done which requires equivocal participation of all stakeholders. Emphasis was laid on better knowledge flow to ensure that farmers make use of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana 2022 that creates scope for chemical free farming to produce nutritious produce.
Sustainability model and empowering farmers
It was identified that many farmers are working great and giving magnificent results in organic farming, but unfortunately they are not working in accordance with the sustainability model. All governmental initiatives, support, funding and subsidies reach organic managing committees and universities and agriculture departments based on education; however, the need at the moment, is to base it according to the current needs of processing and marketing that could help Indian organic produce reach the quality level of secondary agriculture produce. In terms of keeping the organic farming sustainable in the long run, Prof. R Raman, Director, Centre for Natural Farming and Sustainable Agriculture, Faculty – Annamalai University, talked about the role of universities in extending the knowledge of farmers and believed that awareness is low and needs to be taken to farmers to achieve better and sustainable organic agriculture. He emphasized how academia is also putting in a lot of efforts toward creating better inputs using farm and animal residue, as stimulants.
It was agreed upon that if farmers after their primary production gets support and training on how to market them as finished products, then this would reduce their investment resulting in production cost reduction and achieving their deeper reach to customers.
The general mood in the exhibition focus on highlighting diverse products of each state through various companies selling organic products, either at the individual level or under state government’s ambit. Farmers/retailers not only exhibited their products, but also gained knowledge of business communication, display, presentation of their produce at the event. The event turned out to be a great mix of buying and selling propositions which also highlighted the flaws of red tape whereby farmers felt the need to identify more on marketing capabilities as they didn’t get the genuine value of their output. The conference brought forward these challenges to the fore and put forth to the participating government representatives to streamline solutions and allow better practices to prevail which eventually will led to sustainable organic farming in the country.
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