India’s organic exports could reach Rs20,000 cr in next three years: Piyush Goyal

India has the potential to take its organic product exports to levels around Rs20,000 crore in the next three years, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goel said while addressing the eighth edition of the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) in New Delhi on Thursday.

The eighth NPOP, organised at the Bharat Ratna C Subramaniam Auditorium (NASC Complex), Pusa in New Delhi, saw the unveiling of a dedicated NPOP portal as well as Organic Promotion Portal, aimed at making the programme more visible and operations easier for stakeholders.

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) unveiled the upgraded online traceability system, TraceNet 2.0, for seamless operations. The redesigned portal, with improved tools for regulatory oversight, is intended to enhance user experience and information for stakeholders. 

APEDA also launched a redesigned AgriXchange portal that would facilitate increased generation and analysis of user-friendly data and reports of agricultural exports that are also accessible for the general public.

Goel in his address highlighted the growing importance of organic farming and its far reaching benefits to individual health and in the restoration of soil nutrients, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had underlined in Parliament and during his Independence Day speech. He also distributed the first five registration certificates generated on TraceNet 2.0 to organic farmers.

Meanwhile, the minister pointed out that union minister of home affairs and cooperation, Amit Shah has announced simplification and reduction in the application costs for the electronic service portal TraceNet 2.0, which further highlights the growing importance of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and cooperatives in promoting organic farming in the country.

Organic farming is key to sustainable farming as it will help combat water scarcity and overuse of fertilisers and pesticides that harm soil quality and crop yields and is a priority are for the nation, he pointed out.

The minister also pointed to the need for better packaging and marketing of organic products in order to enable farmers receive the right price for their produce. The efforts towards this will also help generate employment and export potential, he said. Goyal welcomed the services of Amul, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) and National Co-operative Organics Ltd (NCOL) for the growth of the organic sector in the country. 

He also said the cooperative sector, farming sector and the trade sector will assist the organic sector to grow in the future.

There is a need to focus on market expansion and raise quality standards of the products. Capacity building for the farmers and research on utilising modern techniques for higher yields is also necessary. Higher yields will lead to higher availability of products which will help spur buying decisions of consumers, Minister Goyal said. 

The 8th edition of the NPOP introduced key amendments aimed at promoting ease of operations and enhancing transparency. These include simplification of certification process of organic grower groups and granting legal entity status to these groups.

The provision for upgrading degraded land has also been revised to allow for a potential reduction of up to three years in the land conversion period to organic, subject to conditions and safeguards. The ICS of organic grower groups have to mandatorily ensure procurement and marketing of the entire organic produce or establish market linkages to support farmers. 

The revamped TraceNet 2.0 has also strengthened the oversight mechanisms through the integration of IT tools and the web-based traceability system for monitoring, surveillance, and data analytics.