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New Delhi: Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister and Minister for Cooperation, speaking at an event in New Delhi on Wednesday, asserted that the newly-launched 'Bharat Organics' will become the biggest brand in the organic market in India and aborad.
Shah, making an address at the national symposium on ‘Promotion of Organic Products through Cooperatives’ said that in the last 5-6 years, lakhs of farmers of the country have adopted natural farming. To resolve the problem of certification, Shah pointed out, the Union Cabinet approved the formation of National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL) on January 11, 2023.
The NCOL, said Shah, has been formed to provide a platform to farmers practicing natural farming and to help them market their products. Shah informed that six Bharat Organics products have been launched in the market. The six organic products launched yesterday were tur dal, chana dal, sugar, rajma, basmati rice, and Sonamasoori rice. These products, which are being sold through Mother Dairy, will also be available online. Overall, 20 products will be launched by December this year, revealed Shah.
Shah has urged every farmer associated with natural farming to join the NCOL. Whatever profit is earned from organic products in India and the world should go directly into the bank accounts of the farmers, Shah noted.
He called on all farmers connected to natural farming to operate through cooperatives. Natural farming, the Union Minister said, is one of the many goals set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for building a "self-reliant" India. Shah emphasised a "multidimensional approach" to increase natural farming above the 50 percent threshold, a target set by India.
It is a matter of great satisfaction for India that we are not only self-reliant in the field of agricultural produce but are producing a surplus and we have to assess this journey, said Shah, who also warned against the adverse effects of using pesticides. "Their excessive use has not only reduced the fertility, polluted the land and water but has also given many diseases, Shah said.
Notably, Sikkim in the northeast, which adopted a resolution in 2003 to shift toward organic farming, became the India’s first organic state and received an award from the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in Rome, Italy. The Centre has initiated a scheme for development of commercial organic farming in Northeast India in 2015 which is now known as ‘Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region’. Besides growing traditional crops, it also aims to bring in high-value crops under contract farming models. The scheme started with an average annual allocation of Rs 134 crore.
