The Hindu Business Line : `India trailing behind in organic farming despite its advantages'

DESPITE being placed in an advantageous position, India is lagging behind in expanding organic farming compared to the European Union, where it has grown steadily over the last two decades.

Total area under certified organic cultivation in India, according to the National Program for Organic Production (NPOP), is 25,08,826 ha, but it includes 24,32,500 ha of wild herbs collection from the forest area of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The actual area under cultivation is 76,326 ha. Total quantity of organic products exported so far stood at 6,792 tonnes valued at Rs 71.23 crore involving 31 items.

The irony and difficulty of the new governmental push for organic agriculture is that 65 per cent of the country's cropped area is "organic by default", according to a study by Rabo India.

Small farmers, located mostly in the eastern and north-eastern regions, have no choice except to farm without chemical fertilisers or pesticides. "Though this is true in many cases, it is also true that a significant number of them have chosen to farm organically, as their forefathers have done for thousands of years," the study said.

According to Dr Samuel B. Moser, Project Coordinator, Asia International Cooperation Division of FiBL, by improving the existing methods and by adopting new approaches such as organic plant protection measures, all these farms could be transformed into fully organic, complying with the organic and hygienic parameters set by the certification agencies. Certification of organic farms has also become easier and less costly, as the country now has 13 certifying agencies of which five are indigenous.

Despite the launching of NPOP and allocating considerable funds for it in the current Plan, the organic sector is still scattered and its development lags far behind its actual potential, official sources pointed out.

In 2002, according to Government statistics, from a total food production of over 200 mt, the country produced only 14,000 tonnes of organic food products. India currently has only 1,426 certified organic farms.

Worldwide, the global organic market is estimated to be worth £17.5 billion, dominated by the US, Japan and Europe. However, organic food sales only represent 1-3 per cent of total food and beverage sales in these countries. Total area managed organically worldwide is believed to be 17 million hectares, with 30 per cent in the Americas and the bulk in Latin America.

The European sales of organic products were estimated to have expanded by about five per cent in 2003 to reach approximately euro 10.5 to 11.0 billion (FiBL, survey 2004). The US organic food and non-food sales grew by about 20 per cent during 2003, to $10.8 billion, a world survey released in May 2004 has indicated. India could become an important player in the global organic scenario soon, provided the stakeholders are able to set-up reliable and efficient supply chains linking organic farmers with consumers.

Sources at the Indian Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture said the development of markets now emerged as the main bottleneck, and hence its first project aims at facilitating market access for organic producers.

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