Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that his ministry has drawn up plans to open laboratories across the country to certify organically produced products and to verify chemical fertiliser-free land in order to help farmers get higher prices for their organically produced commodities.
Shah, who is also the home minister, made the announcement during his speech at the ‘National Conclave on Natural Farming‘ in Anand, Gujarat. Cultivators will adopt organic farming in huge numbers, according to Shah, if they are paid well for their products and have access to the international market.
“The goal is to provide internationally certified organic products with a brand name. The Ministry of Cooperation is working to establish a nationwide network of laboratories that will certify not just organic products, but also that the land on which they were cultivated is free of chemical fertilisers “Shah stated in his speech.
“Farmers will be able to earn better pricing for their organic food as a result of this. It is being worked on by Amul and other cooperative groups. Due to this certification process including both land and farm products, I am optimistic that our organic farm food will fetch higher prices on the worldwide market ” he added.
Preparations to establish up this lab network, according to the ministry, have already begun. Shah expressed optimism that in the next year, a “marketing chain” to sell organic products will be formed in at least two states. The Ministry of Cooperation was established in July of this year with the goal of strengthening the country’s cooperative movement, and Shah was assigned to the new portfolio. Organic farming is a strategy that entails the use of organic fertilisers such as compost and and green manure, and excludes synthetically compounded fertilisers and pesticides.