We are what we eat!
The concerns over food being main source of illnesses has created new market for health foods. Food is only as healthy and safe as it is grown and processed. Hence, demand for organic food has grown all over the world. However, due to issues of data trust, wrong claims being made, mixing up different qualities of food the organic market faced with issues of trust and traceability.Ā Ā In this context, many countries have opted for ‘Organic certification’ as a means of establishing the trust and traceability.
| Organic products are grown under a system of agriculture without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides with an environmentally and socially responsible approach. This is a method of farming that works at grass root level preserving the reproductive and regenerative capacity of the soil, good plant nutrition, and sound soil management, produces nutritious food rich in vitality which has resistance to diseases. |
| India is bestowed with lot of potential to produce all varieties of organic products due to its various agro climatic conditions. In several parts of the country, the inherited tradition of organic farming is an added advantage. This holds promise for the organic producers to tap the market which is growing steadily in the domestic and export sector. |
| As per the available statistics, India’s rank 6th in terms of World’s Organic Agricultural land and 1st in terms of total number of producers as per 2021 data (Source: FIBL & IFOAM Year Book, 2023). |
| FSSAI Order 2017 made Organic Certification mandatoryĀ for sale in India with exceptions for small farmers and small aggregators engaged in direct marketing. |
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| The APEDA, Ministry of Commerce & Industries, Government of India is implementing the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP). The programme involves the accreditation of Certification Bodies, standards for organic production, promotion of organic farming and marketing etc. The NPOP standards for production and accreditation system have been recognized by European Commission and Switzerland for unprocessed plant products as equivalent to their country standards. With these recognitions, Indian organic products duly certified by the accredited certification bodies of India are accepted by the importing countries. APEDA is also in the process of negotiation with Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Canada, Japan etc.
National Centre for Organic and Natural Farming (NCOF) has developed a Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) and accredits organisations to act as Regional Councils. Similarly, every country has their own organic certification systems and standards.Ā Recently, US and Europe have modified their certification systems tooĀ due to substandard produce and wrong claims being flooded in the market. |
| In this course you will learn about organic certification systems, process to be followed for domestic sales and exports and opportunities and challenges in marketing.
This course has four hours of self learning modules,Ā along with downloadable resource material.Ā Live interactions are organised. |
Course Features
- Lectures 17
- Quiz 0
- Duration 10 hours over two days
- Skill level Beginner
- Language English
- Students 25
- Certificate Yes
- Assessments Yes
Features
- High quality resource material
- Sessions by Dr, Ramanjaneyulu with long experience in organic farming and marketing
Target audiences
- Farmer Producer Organisations
- Entrepreneurs
- Startups
- Business establishments