Lok Sabha Question No. 29 (STARRED), answered on 2023-12-05
Subject: Organic and Natural Farming
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Jaskaur Meena

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 29*

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 5 TH  DECEMBER, 2023

## ORGANIC AND NATURAL FARMING

## 29*.  SHRIMATI JASKAUR MEENA:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण मंũी be pleased to state:

- (a) the salient features of organic and natural farming;
- (b) the amount of funds sanctioned, allocated and utilized so far for the said farming methods in the country including Rajasthan;
- (c) the achievements made so far in this field by the country;
- (d) the details of organic products exported during the last three years;
- (e) whether the demand for organic products has increased throughout the world and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the steps being taken by the Government to fulfil the increased demand?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण मंũी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR) (a) to (f): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  IN  RESPECT  OF  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION  NO.  *29  DUE  FOR  ANSWER  ON  5 TH   DECEMBER,  2023 REGARDING 'ORGANIC AND NATURAL FARMING'

- (a): Organic and Natural farming are essentially non-chemical system of farming based on diversity, farm biomass management and nutrient/resource recycling and multiple cropping.

The salient features of organic farming are the following:

- i. Dependant on organic inputs from on-farm and off-farm sources for major and micro nutrients.
- ii. Excludes synthetic inputs in farming.
- iii. Nutrient and pest management practices include use of Farm Yard Manure (FYM), composts  like  vermi-compost,  bio  fertilizers,  oilcakes,  mechanical  traps,  crop diversity, stale seedbed, bio control agents etc.

## The salient features of Natural Farming (NF) are the following:

- i. Local resource based practice integrated with livestock and depends with on-farm inputs only.
- ii. Botanical concoctions for prophylactic pest management.
- iii. Good agronomic practices such as inter cropping and mulching.
- iv. Relies on diversification through multi-crop production systems,
- v. Provides soil cover for longer periods,
- vi. Rejuvenates natural nutrient cycles,
- vii. Uses traditional and other varieties of seeds,
- viii. Practices are based on the local ecology,
9. (b): Government of India is promoting Organic Farming through the following schemes:
- i. Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) was launched in 2015-16. PKVY is being implemented in all the States across the country other-than North Eastern (NE) States.
- ii. Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER) was launched in 2015-16 and is being implemented in all eight states of the North Eastern Region.

Under  these  schemes,  farmers  are  encouraged  to  adopt  organic  cultivation  and  are provided end to end support from production to value addition, certification and marketing of organic produce.

The State/UTs - wise (including Rajasthan) details of allocation, release and utilization under  Paramparagat  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  (PKVY)  and  Mission  Organic  Value  Chain Development  in  North  Eastern  Region  (MOVCDNER)  schemes  for  promotion  of  organic farming is given at Annexure- I & II.

Natural Farming is being promoted since 2019-20 under Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati (BPKP), a sub scheme of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY).  Keeping in view the strength of Natural Farming and the success achieved in some States, BPKP is being upscaled  in  Mission  Mode  as  separate  scheme  as  'National  Mission  on  Natural  Farming' (NMNF).

- (c): The achievements made under Organic & Natural Farming is given in Annexure - III.

(d): The major organic products exported from India during last three years were Cereals & Millets, Processed Food, Tea, Spices & Condiments, Dry Fruits, Sugar, Medicinal plant products, Pulses, Coffee, Oil seeds, Oil cake/meal etc. Organic products worth Rs. 17,853.04 Cr were exported in 2020-21 to 2022-23.

The details of category wise organic export of organic products under NPOP for last three years is in Annexure-IV.

- (e): As per the report of the world of Organic Agriculture Statistics and Emerging Trends 2023 published by FiBL & IFOAM the demand for organic products has increased throughout the world from US Dollars 21 Billion in 2001 to US Dollars 135.50 Billion in 2021.

(f): India is bestowed with significant potential to produce all varieties of organic products due to diversity in its agro-climatic conditions. This holds promise for the organic producers to tap the market which is growing steadily in the domestic and export sector. Several initiatives have been taken by the Government to enhance export of organic products from the Country, and are given in Annexure V.

| 30.11.23) S. No.   | Name of the State   | lakh) PKVY*   | lakh) PKVY*   | lakh) PKVY*   |
|--------------------|---------------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
| 30.11.23) S. No.   | Name of the State   | Allocation    | Release       | Utilize       |
| 1                  | Andhra Pradesh      | 41093.44      | 32691.49      | 31721.49      |
| 2                  | Bihar               | 12369.74      | 4470.08       | 2571.18       |
| 3                  | Chhattisgarh        | 18742.62      | 6800.42       | 4662.10       |
| 4                  | Gujarat             | 2384.21       | 1281.12       | 1084.02       |
| 5                  | Goa                 | 4503.84       | 504.90        | 435.10        |
| 6                  | Haryana             | 886.95        | 104.56        | 25.20         |
| 7                  | Jharkhand           | 10616.85      | 2682.42       | 1775.05       |
| 8                  | Karnataka           | 11887.15      | 4996.36       | 4438.37       |
| 9                  | Kerala              | 12933.24      | 5670.47       | 3451.66       |
| 10                 | Madhya Pradesh      | 42614.68      | 13390.63      | 10650.49      |
| 11                 | Maharashtra         | 19839.08      | 10435.51      | 9321.51       |
| 12                 | Odisha              | 11256.87      | 8359.60       | 7645.14       |
| 13                 | Punjab              | 5467.02       | 2685.05       | 881.26        |
| 14                 | Rajasthan           | 45495.29      | 16399.26      | 13102.89      |
| 15                 | Tamil Nadu          | 4867.71       | 3056.35       | 2256.19       |
| 16                 | Telangana           | 8196.30       | 2369.78       | 1810.30       |
| 17                 | Uttar Pradesh       | 34694.14      | 15868.58      | 9821.26       |
| 18                 | West Bengal         | 3643.55       | 2537.26       | 894.01        |
| 19                 | Himachal Pradesh    | 6500.88       | 3044.52       | 2865.31       |
| 20                 | Uttarakhand         | 52427.46      | 40547.28      | 36140.63      |
| 20                 | UTS                 | UTS           | UTS           | UTS           |
| 21                 | Jammu &Kashmir      | 1963.45       | 356.31        | 162.76        |
| 22                 | Lakshadweep         | 1604.21       | 227.20        | 0.00          |
| 23                 | Ladakh              | 2754.43       | 404.85        | 221.85        |
| 24                 | Andman &Nicobar     | 1159.79       | 163.00        | 130.00        |
| 25                 | Daman &Diu          | 830.47        | 235.55        | 0.00          |
| 26                 | Dadar Nagar         | 7549.75       | 1000.00       | 0.00          |
| 27                 | Delhi               | 7549.75       | 471.45        | 0.00          |
| 28                 | Puducherry          | 408.96        | 28.55         | 28.55         |
| 29                 | Chandigarh          | 663.00        | 77.42         | 77.42         |
| 29                 | NE States           | NE States     | NE States     | NE States     |
| 1                  | Assam               | 3730.91       | 3012.55       | 2380.41       |
| 2                  | Arunachal Pradesh   | 288.96        | 234.56        | 132.49        |
| 3                  | Mizoram             | 515.17        | 469.61        | 439.67        |
| 4                  | Manipur             | 438.44        | 163.46        | 107.07        |
| 5                  | Nagaland            | 399.89        | 333.72        | 290.73        |
| 6                  | Sikkim              | 2822.39       | 1848.88       | 1744.92       |
| 7                  | Tripura             | 782.23        | 687.05        | 607.48        |
| 8                  | Meghalaya           | 642.28        | 448.12        | 303.57        |
| 8                  | Total               | 384525.11     | 188057.91     | 152180.09     |

| No.   | Name of the State   | MOVCDNER*   | MOVCDNER*   | MOVCDNER*   |
|-------|---------------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
| No.   | Name of the State   | Allocation  | Release     | Utilize     |
| 1     | Assam               | 20102.67    | 9556.53     | 8831.68     |
| 2     | Arunachal Pradesh   | 17316.16    | 14126.16    | 13968.59    |
| 3     | Mizoram             | 14555.95    | 9332.33     | 9081.73     |
| 4     | Manipur             | 26977.97    | 24290.50    | 23957.36    |
| 5     | Nagaland            | 18636.55    | 15497.92    | 14894.92    |
| 6     | Sikkim              | 22045.51    | 11851.17    | 11691.02    |
| 7     | Tripura             | 17767.83    | 10385.07    | 10213.32    |
| 8     | Meghalaya           | 16438.59    | 7005.31     | 6902.61     |
|       | Total               | 153841.22   | 102044.99   | 99541.23    |

## Achievement made under organic & Natural farming

The achievements under PKVY and NMCG and BPKP components of PKVY are given below:

-  14.13 lakh ha area transformed into organic benefitting 16.19 lakh farmers.
-  Area transformed organic as follows:
-  8.13 lakh ha under PKVY
-  1.91 lakh ha under National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)
-  4.09 lakh ha covered in 8 States under Bhartiya Prakratik Krishi Paddhati (BPKP).
-  Rs.1931.31 Crore (Rs.1880.58 Crore release to States/UTs &Rs.50.73 Crore for other Administrative expenses) released for promoting PKVY, BPKP & NMCG.
-  8 States namely Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab,  Chhattisgarh  and  Tripura  have  developed  their  own  brands  for  organic products.

The  achievements  under  MOVCDNER  scheme  being  implemented  in  the  NER  since 2015-16 are as follows:-

-  1.73 lakh ha area transformed into organic benefitting 1.89 lakh farmers
-  Rs.1035.17 crore (Rs.1020.45 Crore release to States/UTs &Rs.14.72 Crore for other Administrative expenses) released to 8 NER States since 2015-16
-  Number of FPO/FPCs created -379
-  No of collection and aggregation centres -205 units
-  No of Custom Hiring Centers set-up - 189 units
-  Processing units set-up - 123 Nos
-  Transportation vehicles provided to FPO/FPCs - 145
-  States developed their own brands - 7
-  Organic outlets - 11 Nos

Natural Farming : The  various  initiatives  taken  by  the  Government  on  Capacity building exercise, trainings and outreach through MANAGE, NCONF& ICAR are given below:

National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) as national level 'Knowledge partner for  extension'  with  State  Agriculture  Management  Extension  Training Institutes (SAMETIs) as state branches

-  Has conducted 997 sensitization workshops for 56952 Gram Pradhans .
-  Trained more than 616 Master Trainers
-  Translated  literature  and  short  videos  on  natural  farming  practices  in  22  regional languages
-  Signed  MoU  with  NRLM  to  promote  adoption  of  NF  through  SHGs,  Krishi  and PashuSakhis

## ii. National  Centre  for  Organic  &  Natural  Farming(NCONF) as  nodal  agency  for

## Certification, training, documentation and dissemination of best practices

-  500 State Govt. officers trained as master trainers
-  20,000 farmers trained through on-line and off-line courses
-  Field-level pictorial demonstration guide developed for prospective Natural Farmer.
-  More than 250 success stories on Natural Farming Compiled & Disseminated through digital & print mode.

## iii. Training & Outreach by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR):

-  425 KVKs including 52 KVKs on the banks of river Ganga laid down demonstration on natural farming in their institutional farms,
-  KVKs organized 4105 demonstrations on natural farming at farmers field,
-  KVKs trained 37,978 farmers through 418 training programme,
-  Organized 6777 awareness programme involving 6.80 lakh farmers,
-  National level workshop at RVSKVV, Gwalior which was attended by 800 scientists and farmers,
-  3,60,000 farmers trained through exhibitions, goshthis, farmer to farmer connect and trainings,
-  Evaluation  &  Validation  of  'Natural  Farming  Practices'  in  different  Agro-Ecologies across 20 locations, covering 16 States in 8 major cropping systems,
-  Initiated research on Characterization of 'Natural Farming' inputs, validation of 'Natural Farming' via 'Farmers' Participation'
-  Finalized draft curriculum for Undergraduate course on Natural Farming.

## Massive Outreach through digital approaches

-  Dedicated Portal on Natural Farming with training material, instructional videos and facility for peer-to-peer learning by MANAGE and NITI Aayog
-  Sensitization  and  training  of  2.5  lakh  SHG  members  under  Livelihood  Mission  on Natural Farming.
-  50 Radio Programs conducted for awareness generation
-  123 'ChaupalCharcha' Programs held with 14.79 lakh viewers
-  213 'Hello Kisan' Programs conducted with 49.95 lakh viewers

10-minute  Video  film  in  14  regional  languages  developed  and  telecasted  on  national network through multiple platforms, KVKs and Gram Panchayats with more than 10 crore viewership

## Annexure- IV

| Category wise organic exports during last three years (2020-21 to 2022-23)   | Category wise organic exports during last three years (2020-21 to 2022-23)   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Category                                                                     | Value (in Rs. Crores)                                                        |
| Cereals & Millets                                                            | 1,486.7                                                                      |
| Coffee                                                                       | 293.62                                                                       |
| Dry fruits                                                                   | 554.58                                                                       |
| Essential oil                                                                | 289.3                                                                        |
| Flowers                                                                      | 55.47                                                                        |
| Fodder                                                                       | 141.44                                                                       |
| Fresh Fruits & Vegetables                                                    | 82.64                                                                        |
| Medicinal Plant Products                                                     | 1,331.98                                                                     |
| Miscellaneous                                                                | 2.11                                                                         |
| Oil Seeds                                                                    | 1,628.9                                                                      |
| Oils & Oleoresins                                                            | 5.54                                                                         |
| Others                                                                       | 117.33                                                                       |
| Processed Food                                                               | 9,201.13                                                                     |
| Pulses                                                                       | 236.77                                                                       |
| Spices & Condiments                                                          | 945.33                                                                       |
| Sugar                                                                        | 405.93                                                                       |
| Tea                                                                          | 1,033.68                                                                     |
| Tuber Products                                                               | 40.59                                                                        |
| Total                                                                        | 17,853.04                                                                    |

## Steps taken by the Government to increase export of organic products

## i. Market Promotion, Exhibition and Buyer-Seller Meets (BSM)

-  Organizing  participation in Trade  Fairs  specifically organic  trade fairs,  market promotion and B2B interaction on regular basis.
-  Organized  virtual  buyer  seller  meet  on  organic  products  with  Malaysia,  Japan  and Australia
-  Webinar on Organic products in association with EoI Brussels and Denmark
-  Webinar  cum  BSM  jointly  organized  with  Consulate  General  of  India  Toronto  on 'Opportunities for export of organic products to Canada.'
-  Organized participation of exporters of organic products in Biofach India during year of 2021, 2022 and 2023.
-  Organized participation of Indian exporters in Biofach Numrenberg, Germany during 2022 and 2023.

## i. Sensitization Programme and Capacity Building

-  Conducting  outreach  and  sensitization  programmes  for  Organic  Stakeholders  from time  to  time  on  National  Progarmme  for  Organic  Production  (NPOP)  in  different region/States of the Country for sensitizing the stakeholders
-  Training  and  capacity  building  programmes  on  NPOP  requirements  for  State Government officials, exporters and stakeholders.

## ii. Efforts for expansion to new markets

-  For expansion of organic export to new markets, India is pursuing Mutual Recognition Agreement  with  potential  importing  countries  such  South  Korea,  Taiwan,  Australia, Japan, etc.
-  Efforts are also being made to initiate negotiations with EU for bilateral trade in organic products including processed food.

## iii. Strengthening  the  Regulatory  Framework  &  Monitoring  System  for  Organic Products

India's exports of organic products come under the purview of the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP). The following steps have been taken / initiated to strengthen the regulatory framework for export of organic products

-  The NPOP guidelines are being revised to align with major international standards such as  EU  Regulation  keeping  in  view  the  ongoing  and  future  Mutual  Recognition Agreements etc
-  Strengthening the monitoring mechanism for organic certification under NPOP
-  Training and capacity building of evaluation committee members for effective audit of Certification Bodies (CBs) certifying for organic products under NPOP.

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