Organic e-commerce platform to directly link farmers with retail: Govt

The organic ecommerce platform 'Jaivikkheti' is being strengthened for directly linking farmers with retail as well as bulk buyers, the agriculture ministry said on Thursday.

In a world battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for healthy and safe food is already showing an upward trend and hence this is an opportune moment to be captured for a win-win situation for farmers, consumers and the environment, it said.

Advisories to state governments on supporting direct marketing in order to decongest mandis led to a number of states issuing orders and amending legislations, thereby opening up market options to farmers, the ministry said.

"Working within the constraints posed due to disruption in logistics, access to regular markets, decrease in demand, number of states and clusters innovated and converted this crisis into an opportunity," it said in a statement.

For instance, the Green Caravan of Kohima created market linkages from all villages of Nagaland to urban areas for vegetables, handicrafts and handlooms.

There was online sale of fruits and vegetables by Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) in Maharashtra and doorstep delivery in specially designed electric vans in Punjab, it said.

That apart, the Manipur Organic Agency (MoMA) mobilised all the 15 farmer producer centres of Mission Organic Value Chain Development (MOVCD) to collect produce and transport to two organic wholesale centres at Sanjenthong and Chingmeirong in Imphal for onward delivery to consumers, the statement said.

In this backdrop, the ministry said the organic e-commerce platform is being strengthened for directly linking farmers with retail as well as bulk buyers.

A major takeaway during the pandemic period has been the infusion of digital technology in a much bigger way. "It is a welcome norm which is here to stay, saving in expenses on travel, logistics, etc while not compromising in any way on the quality of information sharing," it said.

The ministry said video conferences are being held to understand the issues being faced by companies and strengthen the conversations with states and regional councils responsible for handholding clusters and in the process new partnerships are being forged for direct procurement from the farmers/ farmer groups.

To assist farmers to adopt organic farming and improve remunerations, the government has been implementing two dedicated programmes namely Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD-NER) and Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) since 2015.

About 40,000 clusters are being assisted under PKVY covering an area of about 7 lakh hectares. MOVCD has brought in its fold 160 FPOs cultivating about 80,000 hectare, the ministry said.

Certification is an important element of organic produce to instill customer confidence. The consumer should look for the logos of FSSAI, Jaivik Bharat and PGS Organic India on the produce to establish the organic authenticity of the produce.

India ranks first in number of organic farmers and ninth in terms of area under organic farming. Sikkim became the first state in the world to become fully organic.

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 are being nurtured to continue their organic story.