Organic farming

Subject – Agriculture

Context – Organic farmers face double whammy

Concept –

Indian exporters of organic produce have been affected by a double whammy of “variations” in tests for ethylene oxide (ETO) and need for separate certifications to export to the US, European Union, and Canada.
Presence of over 0.1 mg/kg ethylene oxide even in conventional products is not accepted by the European Union, as the chemical is considered carcinogenic. Separate certifications for organic products are required since the US ended a unilateral agreement with APEDA.

What is organic farming?

According to FSSAI,’ organic farming’ is a system of farm design and management to create an ecosystem of agriculture production without the use of synthetic external inputs such as chemical fertilisers, pesticides and synthetic hormones or genetically modified organisms.
Organic farm produce means the produce obtained from organic agriculture, while organic food means food products that have been produced in accordance with specified standards for organic production.

Organic Farming in India

India ranks 1st in number of organic farmers and 9th in terms of area under organic farming.
Sikkim became the first State in the world to become fully organic in 2016.
North East India has traditionally been organic and the consumption of chemicals is far less than the rest of the country.
Similarly the tribal and island territories have been traditionally practicing organic farming.
The major organic exports from India have been flax seeds, sesame, soybean, tea, medicinal plants, rice and pulses.

To know about different schemes w.r.t Organic Farming by GOI, please click here and here.