The rising wellbeing mindfulness among individuals has made the Indian organic food market set among the quickest developing business sectors all around the world. The worldwide natural market is as of now worth roughly ten lakh crores. Apart from the big, known brands and faces, a major chunk of the credit goes to the hundreds of food co-operatives in India. From small groups of farmers in villages to FPOs to food co-operatives like the National Level Multi-State Cooperative Organic Society working at a national level, they are bringing all natural farming stakeholders under one umbrella.
India’s global position
The organic food market of India remained at a worth of USD 1,238 million in 2022 and is supposed to develop at around 22% in the gauge time of 2022 and 2028 to arrive at a worth of around USD 4,082 million by 2028. With the contributions of approximately 16 lakh hardworking farmers coming together with ethical technical and logistics support, India exports organic food products worth approximately Rs7,000 crores at the moment. Rice, mangoes, pulses, oil seeds, spices, coffee and many more crops have formed a significant part of the exported products. Amit Shah and the Ministry of Cooperation has high goals for the sector. The government is persuaded that a larger share of the international organic market can directly benefit farmers.
Since 2019, a combined area of almost 127 lakh hectares of land have been gotten under natural development in India. As farmers come together and have conversations about organic farming, their awareness grows and more people show interest in the concept, though they are not completely alien to them either. Using natural fertilisers sourced from their homes and cowsheds is an old practice, and knowing that this is better for the planet along with their well-known benefits for the human body, farmers have perhaps shown little resistance to giving up chemical laden pesticides and fertilisers for their farms. The Ministry of Cooperation is also taking several other steps to accelerate organic farming in India. This will help farmers get a good price for their organic produce and make it easier for Indian organic products to reach the global market.
Support to FPOs
Some government schemes have also been of a influence in people’s push towards the organic movement. FPOs and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies can avail loans under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, for example, promotes cluster based organic farming with PGS certification. Every organic farmer under the scheme is entitled to around Rs. 31,000 per hectare/3 years as incentives for organic inputs. To popularise the use of natural fertilisers, the Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme was launched under Soil Health management Scheme to assist state government and government agencies with 100% capital investment for setting up mechanised fruit and vegetable market waste and agro waste compost production unit. Individuals and private agencies can also access up to 33% of their investments to set up such units. Mission Organic Value Chain Development in the North East Region (MOVCDNER) is also a great step towards the realisation of India’s Organic goal.
FPOs in India can be registered in simple steps on the Internet. One way is through the e-NAM portal or through the e-NAM app. Another benefit of mobile technology is that incentives and subsidies from the government directly goes to their registered bank account. Presently, the food co-operatives also benefit from the numerous organic certification bodies developed in the country, especially the government funded ones that strive for quality and empowerment. This way, the organic consumers have found a way to be more sure of what they consume, and FPOs can now find a bigger market. Being close to other producers have also helped protect them from injustice by middlemen and excessive competition.
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