Status and Prospects of Organic

Farming in India

KS Thakur
Principal Scientist (Veg. Science)
E mail: ksthakur2007@gmail.com
 Why Organic Agriculture ???

 Sustainability: Sustainable agriculture production to support the growing

population
 Health: Healthy soil, healthy crops, healthy livestock, healthy people
 Ecology: Environment pollution, global warming, bio-diversity
conservation
 Fairness: Ecological and social justice and fair trade
 Care: Precaution and responsibility. Not to over exploit natural resources
 Premium price (?)

PLANET OR PROFIT ?
Only the markets demands the Organic Certificate
But….many reasons other than market.
Organic Agriculture
Twin objectives

• For sustainability
• For market

And both ensures improved productivity, sustainability and

profitability

Both the fronts are under explored and need concerted efforts
to take organic to new heights
 Organic 1.0, 2.0 & 3.0

This is the third phase of the global organic movement

 Organic 1.0
The first phase was initiated by pioneers

Sir Albert Howard Lady Eve Balfour

Rachel Carson

J I Rodale

Rudolf Steiner
Examples of some of them
 Organic 2.0
• The second phase started in the 1970s and was
defined by codifying organic agricultural systems

• The introduction of standards and 3rd party

certification systems along with government
regulations

.
 Organic 2.0

This saw the sustained growth

of the current $80 billion sales
in certified organic products.
 Organic 3.0

The strategy for Organic 3.0 includes six main features

1. A culture of innovation: to attract greater farmer

adoption of organic practices and to increase yields.

2. Best practices: Continuous improvement toward

best practice, at a localized and regionalized level.

3. Integrity and transparency: Diverse ways to ensure

transparent integrity, to broaden the uptake of
organic agriculture beyond third-party assurance
and certification.
 Organic 3.0

4. Inclusiveness of wider sustainability interests, thru

alliances with many movements & organizations
with complementary approaches to truly sustainable
food and farming.

5. Holistic empowerment from the farm to the final

product, to acknowledge the interdependence and
real partnerships along the value chain.

6. True value and fair pricing (Markets), to internalize

costs, encourage transparency for consumers &
policymakers & to empower farmers as full partners.
 The world of organic agriculture
 170 countries
 43.1 million ha certified
organic (1%)
 2 million producers
Oceania – 17.3 mha,
Europe – 11.5 m ha,
Latin America - 6.6 m ha,
Asia - 3.4 m ha
North America 3 m ha
Africa – 1.2 m ha
35 m ha wild harvest
collection area

Total 78 m ha Cultivated + Wild Source – IFOAM-FiBL survey 2015

harvest
Some statistical glimpses
National Program on
Organic Production (NPOP)
• Launched during 2001
• Internationally recognized
• Equivalence with EU and Switzerland
• USDA recognized conformity Assessment system
• 26 Accredited certification bodies
• 8 in public sector
• 18 in Private sector Total Area registered 118 la. ha
In-conversion 6.16 la ha
• Offers certification in
Organic 5.68 la ha
• Crop production Total operators 4808
• Livestock Individuals 2028
Grower groups 2291
• Apiculture Total farmers 8.43 lakh
• Aquaculture
Operated by
Agricultural andFood Processing
• Processed Food Product Export
Development Authority (APEDA, Ministry of Commerce,
 Cultivated Area under Organic certification
Cultivated and Wild Harvest 1400000
(in ha)
Collection Area 1200000

1000000

800000
Cultivated area grew by 30
600000
fold till 2008-09
400000

Declined in subsequent years 200000

0
03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12 12-13
Entry of BT cotton killed Years
majority of organic cotton
Wild Harvest Collection area under
areas Organic certification (million ha)
5

Poor marketing linkages led 4.5

4
to loss of enthusiasm 3.5
3
2.5
Complicacy and high cost 2
also contributed to decline 1.5
1
0.5
Wild harvest collection area is 0
05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12 12-13
on rise
Years
Major States Organic Status (2014-15)
Rank State Cultivated Percentage of
Area total area
1. Madhya Pradesh 397546 >1
2. Maharashtra 134524 >1
3. Rajasthan 107523
4. Odisha 81533 >1
5. Sikkim 76392 99%
6. Uttar Pradesh 53954
7. Karnataka 52473
8. Gujarat 49353
9. Uttarakhand 36880
10. Kerala 22980
Standards and Regulations
• Countries with standards 86
• In the process 26
• Total certification bodies 576
Mostly in Europe, USA, South Korea,
Japan, China, Canada and Brazil
• Participatory guarantee systems are growing
• Brazil and India are leaders in PGS
Organic Guarantee
Organic Guarantee is a system of assurance based on
process verification to build the trust of consumers on the
quality of produce and is demonstrated in the form of
documented logo or a statement
Guarantee System
Three Systems of Quality Guarantee

Brand Guarantee
By seller
and
InterestinglyThird
party
TRUST Guarantee
is the foundation
in all the three
Producers
Participatory Guarantee
Brand Guarantee
Brand guarantee is the assurance given by the
seller and its acceptance is solely based on the
trust of consumers
• Brand guarantee do not have any system of verification by consumers or
any other agency
• There is no traceability

• And in case of default it is generally addressed by

replacement of goods
 Third Party Guarantee
Third party Guarantee (or certification) is a system of process verification by
an independent certification agency, which has been duly authorized by
quality assurance program.

The system provides end-to-end traceability

And is generally verified by administrators of quality program.

Consumers do not have direct access to verification mechanism and

has to rely on the details provided by the administrators of the
program

Third part certification systems are most widely accepted

systems and are controlled by the Governments in many
countries
Participatory Guarantee Systems
Participatory Guarantee Systems are based on collective
guarantee by the producers
PGS is open and transparent and involves
participation of consumers
Provides full traceability including direct
access to producers

Largely depend upon direct access and

trust between producers and consumers
Organic Guarantee Systems in India
PGS-India
PGS-India is a quality assurance initiative that is locally relevant,
emphasize the participation of stakeholders, including producers
and consumers and operate outside the framework of third party
certification.

Guiding principles of PGS-India program

• Participation
• Shared Vision
• Transparency
• Trust
• Horizontality
• National networking
PGS-India
A farmer group centric institutional approach with
Government controlled surveillance and verification
• Entire surveillance is on Government cost
• Farmers are owners of the program with decision making
powers
• Encourage direct marketing
• On-line traceability in public domain
• Consumer have direct access to back traceability
Scope for PGS-India program in India
• In India more than 500,000 farmers are registered under
TPC system
• Production 2.96 million tons
• Export only 0.16 million tons
• Domestic market growing fast
• More than 1 million farmers doing organic but do not have
access to TPC due to cost
• PGS-India is an ideal option for farmers growing for
domestic market
Scope for PGS-India program in States going 100%
organic
• States like Sikkim, Mizoram etc are striving hard to achieve
100% organic
• Majority of the produce shall be for local consumption
• Limited quantity will go in domestic market
• Only a fraction is targeted for export
• Such states need to adopt twin strategy –
• TPC for export oriented crops and
• PGS-India Organic for remaining crops for local and domestic
market
Status of PGS-India
• Launched in 2011
• Structure put in place in 2012
• Six Zonal councils
• 20 regional Councils
• 102 Groups
• 2009 farmers
• 2848 ha area
• 8100 ton produce (as PGS-India Green)
Sikkim’s Organic Movement
Experiences and lessons
 Sikkim Organic Mission
•
Vision To promote and develop a clean, green,
healthy and prosperous Sikkim

• To achieve agricultural sustenance,

Mission biodiversity conservation and
environment protection

Goal • To bring the entire agricultural land

under organic management leading to
healthy soil, healthy food and healthy
society

A resolution was adopted in the State Legislative Assembly

to transform Sikkim into a totally organic State in 2003
 Sikkim Organic Mission- An overview

Implementation
Foundation Preparation 2010-2015
2003 2004-2009
 Preparation (2004-2009)
v

 Awareness creation
 Discourage the use of chemical
fertilizers – provided organic substitutes
 Trained and motivated all stakeholders
 Established required infrastructures
 Undertook pilot projects - Bio villages
and certification
 Implementation

1. Sikkim Organic Mission

 Established State Level

Apex Committee with Chief
Minister as Chairman

 Established State Level

Steering Committee with
Chief Secretary as Chairman
and all green department
heads as members
  Sikkim stopped lifting the GoI quota of
Some policy decisions chemical fertilizers from the year 2005.
 Sikkim Organic Policy framed in the year
2010.
 The Sikkim Agricultural and Horticultural
Input and Livestock Feed Regulatory Act,
2014 enacted.
 The Sikkim State Organic Certification
Agency (SSOCA) established in 2015.
 Promotion of organic market- Organic
vegetable markets/outlets established in
important towns
2. Formal conversion and certification (2010-11)
 Involved-
14 Service Providers agencies – ICS management for group certification.
06 Certification agencies – Inspection and certification (India-NPOP & USDA-
NOP)
 A chapter on “Organic Farming” included in the
course curriculum of government schools.

Trade License Act amended- substituted the word “chemical fertilizers”

with “inputs of organic origin”, prohibiting the sale of chemical inputs in
2010.

• Organic regulatory inspectors deployed at border check posts.

• Strict vigil throughout the State on entry and movement of chemical
inputs.
• Ban on burning of biomass and agricultural wastes.
Sikkim’s Organic Journey- Reflection

Preparati Implementa
Foundati
on tion
on
2004- 2010-2015
2003
2009

Celebrated Achievements
Sikkim Organic
 Certified area: 76,169.604 ha
Festival • ICAR Sikkim converted into
(18th to 20th, Jan.2016) NOFRI
Organized: • SSOCA establihed
National Conference on • MOVCD NER- GoI supports
Sustainable Agriculture & • PKVY- GoI supports
Farmers Welfare • India’s First Organic Farming State
(17th & 18th Jan, 2016)
 Opportunities
 Certified organic seeds production
 Organic manures, bio-fertilizer and bio-
pesticides production
 High value crop production
 Apiculture (organic honey production)
 Organic Agri-business (Processing, value addition,
export & retail)
 Tourism (Agri-tourism, Eco-tourism, health tourism,
wellness tourism etc)
 Existing market players

SIMFED: Sikkim Organic

“We grow life from the living”

Sikkim Organic
Govt. Fruit Preservation Unit:
“Naturally Pure & Healthy”

Sikkim Organic
Nature’s Gift (Private processing “Organic produce from the Himalayas”
unit): A Nature’s Gift

FPOs:
Sikkim Organic
“As pure as Nature Intended”
 Commitments and Strategic approach

 Commitments:
•To maintain the status of organic farming state.
•To extend all possible supports to the farmers.
•Continuous performance improvement.

 Strategic approach:
 Empowerment of farmers through FIGs/FPOs
 Creation of post harvest infrastructures at production
clusters
 Establishment of state of the art integrated processing
unit.
 Establishment of world class Agri Park as a one stop
knowledge hub.
 Establishment of world class Spices Park.
 Institutional mechanism (under progress)

Sikkim State Organic Commodity Board (SOCB)

Organic
Certifica
tion District Organic Producer’s Federation
Agency
(SSOCA)

Farmers Producer Farmers Producer

Organization Organization (FPO)
(FPO)

FIG FIG FIG FIG

FIG:- Farmers interest group

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana

 Promotion of commercial organic production through

certified organic farming.
 The produce will be pesticide residue free and will
contribute to improve the health of consumer.
 It will raise farmer's income and create potential
market for traders.
 It will motivate the farmers for natural resource
mobilization for input production.
Groups of farmers would be motivated to take
up organic farming under PKVY.
 50 or more farmers will form a cluster having
50 ac land. During 3 years 10,000 clusters will
be formed covering 5.0 lakh ac.
 There will be no liability on the farmers for
expenditure on certification.
Rs. 20,000 /farmer/ac in 3 years
 Organic products will be linked with the
market.
Thank you