Launch of NCOL by Amit Shah brings hope to Sikkim organic farmers

PTI, New Delhi, Nov 08 2023: Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday launched the 'Bharat Organics' brand of the newly created National Cooperative Organics Ltd (NCOL) and asserted that it will emerge as the most "trusted" brand in India and abroad.

Shah also launched the NCOL's logo, website and brochure. He gave away NCOL membership certificates to five cooperative societies.

Addressing the national symposium on promotion of organic products through cooperatives here, Shah said, "NCOL is a platform for organic growers. Today, we are launching six products under the 'Bharat Organics' brand and 20 products by December." The six organic products -- tur dal, chana dal, sugar, rajma, basmati rice, and Sonamasoori rice -- will be sold through Mother Dairy's Safal outlets and online platforms, he said and added a network of retail outlets is being created across the country.

Initially, NCOL will sell the organic products in India and later will market in other countries, he added.

Shah further said, about 50 per cent of profits from sale of organic products through NCOL will be transferred directly to member farmers.

The Minister of State for Cooperation B L Verma, Cooperation Secretary Gnanesh Kumar, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal, NDDB chairman and NCOL chief Minesh C Shah, and FSSAI CEO G Kamala Vardhana Roa were present at the event.

Gujarat-headquartered NCOL, with National Dairy Development Board being the chief promoter, has been established under the Multi State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002.

The Minister said NCOL aims to cover the entire supply chain of organic products through cooperative networks by undertaking various activities like aggregation, certification, production, testing, procurement, storage, processing, branding, packaging, labeling, marketing, etc for the ultimate benefit of farmer members.

Organic agriculture is practiced in 190 countries on 749 lakh hectares of land and India ranks 4th globally in organic agricultural land and first in number of producers as per 2020 data.

India has 27 lakh hectares of land under certified organic certification, including cultivable and wild harvest areas. The country produced 29 lakh tonnes of certified organic products in 2022-23, as per the official data.

Export of organic produce reached 3,12,000 tonnes in 2022-23, valued at Rs 5,525 crore mainly to the US, EU, Canada and other countries.

Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and North Eastern are some states which are leading in certified organic land.

NCOL is one of the three new cooperatives the government has set up recently. The other two cooperatives work in the field of certified seeds and exports.

There are 7.89 crore cooperative societies across the country with a total membership of 29 crore.