: 14,491 ha area of A&N Islands to be conferred with organic certification under Large Area Certification scheme #FinanceIndia #StockMarketNEWS 14,491 ha area of A&N Islands to be conferred with organic

@StockMarketNEWS Wed 28 Apr, 2021

Posted in: #FinanceIndia #StockMarketNEWS

14,491 ha area of A&N Islands to be conferred with organic certification under Large Area Certification scheme #FinanceIndia #StockMarketNEWS
14,491 ha area of A&N Islands to be conferred with organic certification under Large Area Certification scheme New Delhi, April 28 (KNN) The Government of India has certified 14,491 ha of area under Car Nicobar and Nancowry group of islands in UT of A&N Islands under the ‘Large Area Certification’ (LAC) scheme of the PGS-India (Participatory Guarantee System) certification programme to boost organic farming.

This area becomes the first large contiguous territory to be conferred with organic certification under the scheme.

Car Nicobar and Nancowry group of Islands have been traditionally organic for ages. The administration has also banned the sale, purchase and usage of any chemical inputs of GMO seeds in these islands.

The administration of UT in collaboration with local communities prepared the island-wise and farmer wise database of land holding, practices being adopted, input usage history etc.

An expert committee has verified their organic status and recommended for declaration of the area as certified organic under the PGS-India certification programme.

Based on these reports, the Government of India certified 14,491 ha area under Car Nicobar and Nancowry group of islands in UT of A&N Islands.

Besides these islands, agricultural areas in States like Himachal, Uttarakhand, North Eastern states and tribal belts of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, desert districts of Rajasthan which are essentially free from the use of chemical inputs can be transformed to certified organic.

Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) in consultation with states is working to identify such areas, transform them into certified organic production hub and facilitate the marketing of area-specific niche products through branding and labeling.

Additionally, to bring isolated individual farmers to the certified organic fold, DAC&FW has also launched an organic certification support scheme under PKVY (Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana).

Under the scheme, individual farmers can avail financial assistance for certification under any of the prevailing certification systems of NPOP or PGS-India. Assistance will be available as reimbursement of certification cost directly to certification agencies through the states.

After A&N Islands, UTs of Lakshadweep and Ladakh are proactively taking steps for the transformation of their traditional organic areas to certified organic

Armed with organic certification these hitherto unexplored areas will have direct access to the emerging organic food market of the country.

Despite deep inroads of modern agricultural practices, still, there are large contiguous areas in hills, tribal districts, desert and rained areas in India that continue to remain free from chemical input usage.