India to adopt extra measures to check irregularities in organic farming certification
Recently, additional measures have been taken by the Ministry of Commerce to check irregularities in organic farming certification.
- The Ministry has started adopting additional onsite measures to check field-level irregularities. These measures also include verification of organizations certifying organic agriculture.
- Certification of organic foods ensures that these substances comply with the prescribed standards.
- Organic foods are certified under the National Program for Organic Production (NPOP) or the Participatory Guarantee System for India (PGS – India).
- NPOP includes recognition of certification bodies and promotion of organic farming and marketing etc.
- NPOP has been launched under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) of the Ministry of Commerce.
- The European Commission and Switzerland have recognized NPOP standards for unprocessed plant products.
- PGS – India has been launched under the Ministry of Agriculture. It is based on the NPOP standards, but has a different certification process. PGS is for home use only.
- In organic farming, organic fertilizers (vermicompost, cow dung manure etc.) and organic farming methods are used.
- As a result, there is sustainable production of crops without affecting the quality of the produce.
- Unlike organic farming, neither chemical nor organic fertilizers are added to the soil in natural farming. In fact, no external fertilizers are added to the soil.
Benefits of organic agriculture:
- Keeps the environment healthy by reducing pollution;
- reduces the risk of crop damage;
- Lowers input cost, leading to higher profits;
- Increases export potential etc.
Disadvantages of Organic Agriculture:
- More labor is required;
- Strict certification process deters farmers from adopting organic farming;
- Requires special infrastructure etc.
Other Related Information:
- The Central Government has announced that it will set up a high quality modern biological testing laboratory in Sikkim.
- This will give a boost to organic products in the state.
- Sikkim is the first fully organic state of India. India ranks first in terms of number of organic producers.
Source – The Hindu
