Bolstering Organic Food Testing Capabilities in India

 

Bolstering Organic Food Testing Capabilities in India

Organic foods are foods produced by organic farming that use natural methods to maintain soil health and manage pests, reducing the use of synthetic chemicals and genetically modified organisms (GMO). Organic products are grown under a system of agriculture without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides with an environmentally responsible approach. Such a method of farming works at the grass root level preserving the reproductive and regenerative capacity of the soil, good plant nutrition, and sound soil management, producing nutritious food.

It is widely considered to be a far more sustainable alternative when it comes to food production. It is not just a production method, but a philosophy of sustainability that minimizes the use of synthetic fertilizer, pesticides and growth regulators, relying instead on natural processes. It is also known as biological farming or ecological farming because this agricultural system uses fertilizers of organic origin such as green manure, compost manure, and bone meal. This system is now the indispensable future of agriculture. A wider variety of plants and the lack of chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides enhance biodiversity, leading to better soil quality and lesser pollution from fertilizers or pesticide run-off. 

Organic food may cost higher than conventionally produced food because of strict production standards, lower yields, longer production time, certification costs and limited scale and distribution. The usage of fertilizers and pesticides makes it easier for farmers to grow conventional food with minimum time and labour. Organic farming produces healthy foods without the use of toxic pesticides, so eating organic foods reduces the amount of chemicals in our diet. Hence, organic food offers numerous benefits for consumers and the environment, although it may be more expensive to consumers, but better prices to farmers.

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Government of India, is implementing the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP). This programme involves the accreditation of Certification Bodies, standards for organic production, promotion of organic farming and marketing. The use of fertilizers, pesticides, fungicide, and insecticides are strictly maintained in organic farming. India’s rank 6th in terms of World’s organic agricultural land and first in terms of total number of producers. Total area under organic certification process is 10.17 m ha (2022-2023). Total volume of export during 2002-2022 was 3128.51 MT and the organic food export realization was around Rs. 5528.18 crore (708.33 million USD). Madhya Pradesh has covered largest organic certification process followed by Maharashtra, Gujrat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand. Sikkim is the first organic state in the world after it had a resolution in 2003 to shift towards organic farming with an objective to stop the usage of chemicals and pesticides in farming. This state received an award from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). 

Recently, the APEDA, banned some private agencies for their involvement in unethical practices and even the APEDA was not satisfied with the private lab testing results, leading to move for upgradation of government-owned labs for reliable outcomes. So, Government of India now have planned to add organic food testing capability to two dozen central and state-owned testing laboratories. 

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) plans to fund institutes of central and state government to upgrade their food testing labs. Funds will be provided to 12 central research labs and 12 state labs. This programme will be implemented in partnership with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Technological and financial support will be provided to those labs affiliated with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), National Test House (NTH) and BIS. Hence, it will be good move by FSSAI and BIS for setting up their own network of labs for testing organic products, leading to increase consumer confidence, improved and better quality of organic foods, and moreover, better prices to farmers. 

Source: 

1. APEDA

2. Hindustan Times dated 20th February, 2024