Mission Organic Value Chain Development: Going organic to yield rich dividend

NEW DELHI: The government has been promoting organic farming on priority in the country since 2015-16 through the schemes of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) and Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER).

Both the schemes stress on end-to-end support to farmers engaged in organic farming i.e. from production to processing, certification and marketing and post-harvest management. Training and Capacity Building are integral part of the scheme. Incentives to farmers for producing and using organic fertilizers/manure are inbuilt in these schemes as on-farm and off-farm organic inputs.

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) is provided to the farmers for using organic inputs including organic fertilizers. PKVY is being implemented in all the States other-than North Eastern (NE) States across the country whereas MOVCDNER scheme is being implemented exclusively in the NE States.

Under PKVY, an assistance of Rs.50,000 per ha for a period of three years is provided to States including States of Tamil Nadu & Rajasthan for promotion of organic farming to cover different components like Training & Capacity Building, Data Management, PGS Certification, Value Addition, Marketing and Publicity. Out of this, assistance of Rs. 31,000 per ha for a period of three years is provided to farmers through DBT for on- farm /off –farm organic inputs. Whereas under MOVCDNER, an assistance of Rs. 46,575/ha for 3 years is provided for creation of FPO, support to farmers for organic inputs, quality seeds/ planting material and training, hand holding and certification. Out of this, assistance @ Rs. 32500/ ha for 3 years is provided to farmers for off -farm /on –farm organic inputs under the scheme including Rs. 15,000 as DBT to the farmers and Rs. 17,500 for the planting material to be given to the farmers by State Lead Agency (SLA) in kind.

In view of the increasing demand of organic farming products of India in the global market, Government is facilitating value addition, certification and marketing. As per requirement of International market, Government has initiated third party certification under National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) in 2001.

Under PKVY assistance @ Rs 8800/ha for 3 years is provided to facilitate value addition, marketing and publicity to all the states/UTs including Tamil Nadu. Assistance is provided for certification and training, handholding & capacity building respectively @ Rs 2700/-ha for 3 years and Rs 7500/- ha for 3 years under PKVY for farmers of all the States including Rajasthan. Where as under MOVCDNER scheme assistance is provided @ Rs 10,000/-ha for 3 years for training, capacity building & certification.

A long-term experiment, at selected sites, for comparative evaluation of organic and conventional management conducted by Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) indicated that yield was found to be higher during kharif and rabi /summer crops for coarse/ basmati rice based cropping systems, soybean-based systems compared to inorganic approaches indicating better suitability of these systems under long-term organic management approaches. Soil organic carbon was found to be significantly higher under long-term organic approach for coarse rice, basmati rice and soybean-based systems.

To disseminate information on organic and natural farming as well as on on- farm production and use of various kinds of organic fertilizers, National Center for Organic and Natural Farming (NCONF) and its Regional Center for Organic and Natural Farming (RCONF) located at Ghaziabad, Nagpur, Bangalore, Imphal and Bhubaneswar are organizing various trainings namely, One Day Farmers’ Training, Two Days Training for Extension Officers/Staff, Two Days Training on PGS, 30 Days Certificate course, One day Jaivik evam Prakratik Kisan Sammelan for 500 participants, One Day Stakeholder consultations/ conferences on Natural Farming for 100 participitants, Orientation Program on Natural Farming and awareness programmes across the country. NCONF and RCONF also organize online awareness campaign and training programmes on organic and natural farming and production and use of organic and bio-fertilizers.

The ICAR also imparts trainings, organizes front-line demonstrations, awareness programs etc. to educate farmers on organic farming and organic fertilizers.