Question : ORGANIC FARMING

(a) whether the production of organic crops has declined in the country during each of the last three years and the current year;

(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;

(c) whether there is any authority to ensure the quality certification of organic food, if so, the details thereof along with the action taken by the Government to spread awareness amongst the farmers on the advantages of organic farming in the country;

(d) whether there are reports of irregularities in funding for organic farming in the country; and

(e) if so, the details thereof along with the corrective steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE ( SHRI MOHANBHAI KUNDARIA )

(a) & (b): Department of Agriculture and Cooperation does not maintain any data on production of organic crops. However, the National Programme on Organic Production (NPOP) under Foreign Trade Development and Regulation (FTDR) Act (administered by Department of Commerce) is a regulatory mechanism for export of organic produce. Under NPOP, the production of certified organic products for the last three years is as follows:

 
 Year	Production (in Million MT) 2011-12	0.69 2012-13	1.34 2013-14	1.24 2014-15	Not available 
 
 Source: NPOP TRACENET 
 APEDA has introduced a new internet based electronic service known as TRACENET, since June 2011, for facilitating process certification for export of organic products from India which comply with the national standards. Before the web based TRACENET was fully enforced, the operators and certification bodies were filling this data manually. 
 
 Therefore, after the implementation of TRACENET, there are changes in the data collected. 
 
 (c):The organic products for exports are certified by an accredited certification body under the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP). The list of the accredited Certification bodies under NPOP is at Annexure I. 
 
 Under NMSA, the National Centre of Organic Farming, Ghaziabad, is conducting various extension and publicity activities like Exhibitions, Radio Talks, TV Programmes, distribution of literature on Bio-fertilizers etc to educate farmers. NCOF is also publishing Bio-Fertilizer News Letter as well as Organic Farming News Letter Biannually and Quarterly respectively both in Hindi and English language. And in addition, various books on production and use of biofertilizers have been published in various languages for distribution to the farming community. Radio jingle on promotion of organic agriculture was broadcasted in 13 languages (Hindi, Assame, Bengali, Dogri, Gujarati, Kannada, Manipuri, Marathi, Oriya, Telugu, Punjabi, Tamil, Malayalam) from 63 Radio stations across the country (The script of Radio jingle in Hindi is given at Annexure II. The details of publicity activities undertaken by NCOF during 2013-14 are given in Annexure III. 
 
 (d) & (e):	No reports of irregularities in funding for organic farming in the country.
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