Plans are afoot for the retail arm of NAFED (the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd) to sell organic food products via e-commerce sites at reasonable prices.
This was stated by Sanjeev Chadha, executive director, NAFED, who added that the decision was in the final stages.
“The agricultural trading agency has got the in-principle nod in this regard, and talks with the e-commerce sites have commenced,” he said.
The plan is being implemented under PMKVY (the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Vikas Yojana), under which farmers have been directed to form farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and provided the requisite aid and assistance.
With the Indian domestic food market forecast to grow at about 25 per cent over the next five years, NAFED aims to sell the organic products of its associates, particularly the smaller farmers.
FSSAI released a set of standards for organic food regulations in 2017. These lay down the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, pertaining not only to additives, contaminants, toxins and residues, but also to labelling and packaging, among others.
It is pertinent to state here that foods claiming to be organic must comply with either of the three programmes - NPOP (the National Programme for Organic Production), PGS (the Participatory Guarantee System for India) or any other system notified by the country’s apex food regulator.
Organic products will be called organic if a minimum of 95 per cent of the ingredients in them have the certified organic label.
While Sikkim has been declared India’s first fully-organic state, the Governments of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as well as those of bigger states like Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, have given a great deal of emphasis on organic farm practices.
