Emphasis on organic farming for India

India

Wednesday 19 May 2010

India is going to exploit 5 millions of additional organic hectares in order to multiply its exports to reach the expected billion dollars.

India has set a target of exporting organic food worth $1 billion in the next five years.

Asit Tripathy, President of the agriculture and transformed food Export Development Authority (APEDA) considers that the objective can be reached by developing more the capacities of the country and the bilateral agreements with big mature markets (United States and Europe).

“Our vision is to make India the number one organic hub in the world over in the next 10 years”, he said.

The total volume was 44,476 tons, realizing over $125 million. The overall growth of organic food exports was 50.31% over the previous year. Approximately 60 % were exported towards the European Union, 20 % to United States, 5 % to Japan and the rest to Canada, Australia and East Asian countries.

Currently, India ranks 33rd in terms of total land under organic cultivation.

Under the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012), the country targeted the development of 5 million hectares of cultivable land into certified organic farmland.

Source : The Hindu.