Question : Low Cost Organic Farming

(a) the details regarding the total amount of organic products produced in the country annually during the last five years;

(b) the details of the action plans of the Government to promote organic farming and encourage farmers to adopt low cost organic farming along with the details thereof;

(c) whether the Union Government provides subsidy to the farmers engaged in organic farming;

(d) if so, the criteria adopted by the Government in this regard along with the manner in which subsidy is provided to the farmers; and

(e) the details thereof?

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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(a): During the last five years, 7,894,757.82 MT of organic production has been recorded as per the TraceNet report of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). Similarly, as per Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) portal data, 213067.72 MT of organic production is recorded during the same period.

(b) to (e): Government of India has been promoting organic farming through the dedicated schemes of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) and Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER) since 2015-16. Under PKVY, assistance is provided to the farmers for on farm and off farm input production/ procurement, creation of post harvest infrastructure, marketing etc. for encouraging organic farming. Farmer within a group can avail the benefit to a maximum of 2 hectare and the limit of assistance is Rs.50, 000 per hectare/ 3 years, out of which Rs. 31,000 (61%) is given as incentive to the farmer directly through DBT. PKVY farmers adopt Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) of certification through peer reviews.

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The main objective of MOVCDNER is to encourage farmers of north eastern region to form a third party certified hub ready for export of niche organic crops. Assistance is provided to the farmers in a value chain mode starting from formation of Farmers Producer Organisations( FPOs) , on/off farm input production, supply of seeds/ planting materials, post harvest infrastructure including collection, sorting, grading facilities, establishment of integrated processing unit, refrigerated transportation, pre-cooling/ cold stores chamber, branding, labelling and packaging, etc .









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