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| Agriculture minister Nilamani Sen Deka speaks at the conference in Guwahati on Tuesday. Picture by UB Photos |
Guwahati, Aug. 19: The Northeast has to be organic by design and just being organic by default will not benefit the region, said an expert on organic agriculture here today.
Experts from across the country deliberated today on the problems and challenges facing organic farming in the Northeast at a conference organised by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority.
The executive director of International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture (ICCOA), Manoj Kumar Menon, said though the Northeast has all the potential to become an organic hub of the country, it has not been able to realise its potential in the organic trade because of several problems.
The ICCOA was founded in 2003 by a large number of stakeholders of organic agriculture in India with the objective to enhance market opportunities for Indian organic and fair-trade products not only in localities or regions, but also across the world.
“There has been a sharp drop in the organic-certified areas in the Northeast over the last few years which is a matter of concern and needs to be analysed,” Menon said.
He added that just being organic by default would not help the region. A variety of issues like soil quality, food safety and economic benefits would have to be addressed.
“Effective supply chains are not happening in the Northeast,” he said, adding that there has to be a road map for the organic sector. This apart, there are issues of post-harvest processing for international and national markets.
Organic trade in the country is today estimated at Rs 2,500 crore which will increase to Rs 6,000 crore by 2015. The Northeast has 60,000 hectares of organic-certified area. Sikkim has taken big strides in the organic sector and has drawn a comprehensive policy to make the state an organic state by 2015.
“The Northeast can contribute between Rs 500 crore and Rs 1,250 crore to the country’s organic trade,” Menon said.
