ORGANIC AGRICULTURE

BY

Dr.P.Bhattacharyya
Director, NCOF, Ghaziabad
Additional Commissioner
(INM)
DAC, Krishi Bhawan
New Delhi
 ORGANIC AGRICULTURE
• Holistic production system, harmony with
nature, Avoids chemical fertiliser, pesticides etc.
PURPOSE
• Good soil, good food, good health, good
environment, good business
• Movement from Farmers, NGOs etc.
 ORGANIC STATUS
• Global : 24 mha (1.6% Ag. Area)
: Nearly 130 countries produce organic
product, Australia (10 mha) – lead
country
• Indian : 37000-41000 ha (SOEL survey),
(0.3% of Ag. Area)
: 2.50 million ha (APEDA)
(Including 2.43 mha of forest area with
wild herb & medicinal plants
Main ISSUES
• Standard
• Inspection,
Certification,
Accreditation
• Input
• Market
(Export/Domestic)
 STANDARD

: Globally 61 standards available

: Important Standard includes – IFOAM, CODEX, EU,
Demeter, JAS, Naturland etc.
: National Standard in India under NPOP (2002)
(General Principle, Recommendation, Standard,
list (permitted/non-permitted)
: Mainly “process” Standard, cover – cultivation,
Fertilisation, Pest/Disease management
: recently under review; Efforts for harmony with EU
regulation.
 CERTIFICATION Agencies in India
• 11 Nos.
• Ecocert (G) (Aurangabad), Skal (N) (Bangalore), IMO (S)
(Bangalore), SGS (S) (Gurgaon), Naturland (G) (Gurgaon),
Lacon (G) (Cochin), Indocert (S) (Cochin), APOF (Bangalore),
ISCOP (Coimbatore), IRFT (Mumbai), Bioinspectra (S)
(Cochin)
• Mandatory for export market
ACREDITATION
: Earlier 6 agencies: APEDA, Spice Board, Coffee Board,
Coconut Board, Tea Board, Cashew nut Board
: Now one body : National Accreditation Board (APEDA,
other Commodity Board and Ministry of Agriculture)
Limitation: i) Inspection performance not always good
ii) Certification cost is high
 Organic Input
Availability
i) Live stock = 2.47 million ton
ii) Crop residues = 2.00 million ton
iii) Biogas slurry = 0.12 million ton
iv) Biofertiliser = 0.20 million ton
v) Green manure = 0.10 million ton
vi) City refuse = 0.68 million ton
vii) Others = 1.00 million ton
(Rural compost, Vermicompost, = 6.57 million ton
Ag. Waste)
Total = 7.0 million ton
Biopesticide = 1000 ton
Constraint: (a) No regulatory mechanism
(b) Response always not satisfactory.
 Global Market (Export) India
Current market =26 BN US$ • 31 organic products currently
Annual Growth =15-20% exported
USA =11-13 BN US $ • No. of exporters = 69
Japan =350-450 MN US $ • Organic value (2003) estimated
Europe =10-11 BN US $ = US $ 15.5 million
(710 million Indian Rupees)
 Market Organic (Export) 2004

Kerala = 1232 Metric ton Export Product

West Bengal = 937 Metric ton
Basmati rice, cotton,
Karnataka = 476 Metric ton
Mangopulp, Cashew
Tamil Nadu = 471 Metric ton nut, Sesame,
Punjab = 541 Metric ton Piniapple pulp,
Himachal Pradesh = 521 Metric ton Honey, Walnut,
Maharashtra = 375 Metric ton spices, coffee, Tea,
Peanut canned.
India Total = 6472 Metric ton
APEDA,
 Future Export Demand Exported to:
Europe: Netherland, UK,
2003-04 15050 ton
Germany, Belgium, Sweeden,
2004-05 16930 ton Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain
America: USA, Canada
2005-06 19080 ton
Middle East: Saudi Arabia, UAE
2006-07 21523 ton
Asia: Japan, Singapore

(Source Org. Marg = 2002)

[In 2002, from a total food production over 200 million ton, India
produced only 14000 ton of organic food produces]
 Major products produced in India by
Organic Farming
Type Products
Commodity Tea, Coffee, Rice, Wheat
Spices Cardamom, Black pepper, white pepper,
ginger, turmeric, vanilla, mustard, tamarind,
clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace chilly
Pulses Red Gram, Black Gram
Fruits Mango, Banana, Pineapple, Grape, passion
fruit, Orange, Cashew nut, walnut
Vegetables Okra, Brinjal, Garlic, Onion, Tomato, Potato
Oilseeds Sesame, castor, sunflower
Others Cotton, herbal extract
 Name of few Organic Exporters

• Sunstar overseas Ltd. Haryana

• Navdanya Trust, New Delhi
• FAB India Ltd., New Delhi
• Kashmir Apiaries Export
• Jubilant Organosys Ltd., Noida
• IITC Organic India Ltd., Lucknow
 Domestic Market
• Yet to be developed
• No market structure is there
• Emphasis on
(i) Creation of awareness
(ii) Procuder – consumer meeting, organisation of
organic bazar/hat/mela
(iii) Change of mindset
(iv) utilisation of spiritual group, health care group etc.
 Value Addition for food processing &
organic view point
• Value addition for food process – most important for
agribusiness
• Type of value Addition include:
 Use of additive, flavors
 Fortification with vitamin, amino acid
 Nutrient supplementation
 Protective packaging
 Raising food safety by detoxification (removal of Alfa
toxin, Glucocinolate)
 Reduction of ant nutritional factors (trypsin inhibitiors,
tannins etc.)
 Use of antioxidant
 Use of chemical preservative, salt
 Imparting desirable taste (salting of cashew nut)
 Improvement in hygienic quality
 Guideline of Organic Standard for
food process
• Handling/processing of organic products should be
optimized to maintain quality
• Pollution sources should be identified
• Flavoring extracts preferably be organic
• Product shall be protected with non-organic product
• Organic & non-organic product shall not be stored &
transported together.
• Special condition of storage permitted (controlled
atmosphere, cooling, freezing, Drying)
• Humidity regulation ethylene gas for ripening permitted
• Biodegradable packaging materials shall be used

(Packaging through product like benzooxazolyl,

methoxymethyl flourine etc. prohibited)
 India Organic – An overview
1) Advantage in climate – 100-10000 mm rain, hilly,
desert - diversive
2) Blessed with vast natural resources.
3) Area Under certified = 2.5 million ha.
4) Total certified product = 115,238 metric ton
5) Project certified = 332
6) No. of processing units = 158
7) Accredited I & C agencies = 11
8) Total Quantity exported = 6,472 MT (2004)
9) No. of products exported = 35
 Government Initiative
(As facilitator)
• NPOP programme (2000), National Standard, Accreditation,
Certification, Organic export through Ministry of Commerce,
APEDA.
• Development of Organic Farming Technology package by ICAR
• Launching of National Project on Promotion of Organic
Farming (w.e.f. October, 2004) (Rs.57.0 crore) (10th five year
plan)
Capacity Building through Service providers
Setting up of vermiculture hatchery, Biofertiliser plant,
Fruit/Vegetable compost plant (25% Back ended bankable
project)
Human Resource Development through training, field
demonstration.
Setting up of model organic farm
Quality testing and input production technology
 Market development, publicity etc.
Budget for 2005-06 on Organic Farming under NPOF = Rs.27 crore
EAT ORGANIC DREAM ORGANIC LIVE ORGANIC