Lok Sabha Question No. 3726 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-21
Subject: Production of Organic Cotton
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Balashowry Vallabbhaneni

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3726

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 21 ST  DECEMBER, 2021

## PRODUCTION OF ORGANIC COTTON

3726.  SHRI BALASHOWRY VALLABHANENI:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

- a)  the reasons that growers have not been able to enter into contract with retailers to push production of organic cotton;
- b)  the  method  adopted  by  the  Ministry  for  addressing  the  increased  labour  requirements, greater variability in organic yields year-to-year, lower fiber quality, etc;
- c)  whether lack of seed breeding efforts and non-availability of seeds is contributing to less production of organic cotton; and
- d)  if  so,  the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Ministry  to  address  these  issues  in  a  time-bound manner?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी

(SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a) & (b): The  state  governments  are  responsible  for  production  of  all  types  of  cotton including  organic  cotton.  The  Department  of  Agriculture  &  Farmers  Welfare  (DA&FW) advocates for promotion of specialty/ organic cotton through user industry to enable farmers get maximum  returns for produce. Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development  Authority  (APEDA),  Ministry  of  Commerce  &  Industry  is  the  Secretariat  for implementation of National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP). NPOP provides an institutional  mechanism  for  accreditation  of  certification  bodies  and  certification  of  organic process  &  products.  Presently,  raw  organic  cotton  (seed  cotton)  is  mandated  under  the certification of NPOP as notified under the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act of Directorate  General  of  Foreign  Trade  (DGFT).  The  processing  such  as  ginning,  spinning, knitting, weaving etc are not covered under NPOP as mandatory requirement for export from the country and the processed form of organic cotton is exported under private certification system. To overcome all the challenges & issues of concern in the supply chain of processed form of  cotton,  on  the  advice  of  Ministry  of  Textiles,  APEDA  has  developed  and  launched Standard for Chain of Custody for Indian Organic Fibres & Products in 2020, on voluntary

basis under NPOP for certification of fibres from farm to made-ups.

Besides,  Government  is  promoting  organic  farming  under  the  schemes  viz., Parampragat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) and Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER) since 2015-16. Both the schemes provide end to end support for organic farmers from organic production to certification and marketing including post harvest management support like processing, packaging, storage,etc.

(c) & (d): Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)-Central  Institute  for  Cotton Research  (CICR)  and  All  India  Coordinated  Research  Project  (AICRP)  on  Cotton  have released 64 non-Bt (non-GM) cotton varieties/hybrids during 2017-2021 that can be adopted by  organic  cotton  growers.  Nucleus/breeder  seeds  are  available  with  the  developer  and seeds are being provided to organic cotton famers after getting the indent. ICAR-CICR and AICRP on Cotton are helping farmers by providing source of breeder seeds and package of practices for organic cotton production

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