India is the place for large-scale organic production, says Commerce Secretary
Nuremberg (PTI): India is the place for large-scale organic production and the country is keen to collaborate with the EU to strengthen this ecosystem to cater to rising demands, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said here on Tuesday.
Agrawal also said that India's organic products exports have grown threefold over the last 10 years, and the government now aims to triple them again over the next five years.
"India is the place" to serve the world as a good organic food basket, he said, adding that India has 150.3 million hectares of agricultural land under cultivation.
He said that the organic ecosystem is growing very fast in the country, as today, 3 per cent of India's cultivation is organic.
In India, 4.7 million hectares of land is under organic cultivation, with 2.4 million farmers practising it, and it is only increasing by the day, he said.
The Secretary was speaking at the inauguration of Biofach 2026. About 100 exhibitors from 20 Indian states, including Assam, Meghalaya, and Kerala, are here to showcase their organic food products at the world's leading trade fair Biofach show (February 10-13).
He informed that India is emerging as a credible supplier of organic food, both within India and outside.
"I see this happening in a much faster manner. So if world needs the state for organic production, I think India is the place, and we like to work with all of you to see how we can improve the Indian organic food ecosystem to serve both the Indian rising demand within India and also the rising demand in two of our biggest markets," he said.
He called for creating credibility around organic foods. There is a need to ensure trust and credibility around the certification of these products.
India started with the national programme for organic production way back in 2001 and that was designed to adopt the international standards of organic goods.
"And now we are bringing in cooperatives in a big way," he said, adding that cooperatives can bring in and aggregate farmers to create good, viable organic ecosystem in various villages across the country.
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Congress’ downfall will start from Baramati if it doesn’t let Sunetra Pawar win unopposed: Bawankule
Nagpur (PTI): The Congress will have to face consequences if it doesn't allow NCP president and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar to win the Baramati assembly bypoll unopposed, said minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Thursday.
The party’s “downfall” will start from Baramati, he said, stressing that the people of Baramati and Maharashtra wish that she is elected unopposed, said the BJP leader.
The April 23 bye election was necessitated after the tragic death of deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who headed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), in a plane crash in Baramati on January 28. After his death, his wife Sunetra became the party president.
The NCP, BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena are partners in the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state.
“The Congress will face consequences if it doesn’t let Sunetra win unopposed from Baramati. Its downfall will start from Baramati if it doesn’t withdraw its candidate,” Bawankule told reporters in Nagpur.
Amid efforts to ensure an unopposed contest, the Congress has fielded advocate Akash More for the bypoll.
The party had said that it would withdraw from the contest only if an FIR were registered in Ajit Pawar’s death in the Baramati plane crash.
Replying to another question, Bawankule said the BJP’s performance will be more robust in Assam and Kerala elections compared to the last assembly polls in these states. Assembly polls are being held in a single phase in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry on Thursday.
“These elections will once again show Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership commanding support among the people,” he said.
