Exports of organic products from India is expected to grow by close to 100% in the coming years on the back of greater participation of farmers and stringent certification by the agencies. S Dave, director, Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) on Friday said the Ahmedabad that the central organization was taking special efforts in order to increase the organic agriculture products.
"There is a huge demand for organic products in countries of European Union, Switzerland, the US, Japan and Korea. Currently, about 3.8 lakh farmers are engaged in organic farming in India. We are making efforts to increase their participation by providing training to not only the farmers but also to all stakeholders, including state government officials," Dave said.
Dave was on a visit to Ahmedabad for a training programme, which was part of a series of training programmes being held by Apeda for the stakeholders of organic farming. According to him, Gujarat had large potential for organic production of dairy products, groundnut, textiles, sesame seeds and bananas. Apart from these, Gujarat is said to be a good place to develop organic aquaculture as well, which has huge demand in overseas markets, as the state has a large coastal belt.
In order to make Indian exports more competitive and trustworthy, the number if certifying agencies is being increased. "Five years back, we had only six certifying agencies for organic products, while today there are 16 agencies in the country and four more would be added by 2010-end. We are the pioneers in providing group certification for the small farm holding, which reduces certification cost significantly for small farmers," Dave said.
Source : fnbnews.com