International seminar on markets and marketing of organic products

Three two-day international seminars concerning organic agriculture and marketing were organized in India by Organic Services & Solutions India Pvt Ltd, a JV with Organic Services GmbH, Germany. The workshops were supported by The German Development Bank, the BioFach and Morarka Organic Foundation. The seminars were attended by over 350 participants, being interested in organic topics and wanting to share experiences made in the organic sector.

Picture: Organic Farming Promotion

Over the two days, there were six technical sessions and presentations from over twelve international and national experts. The announced subjects were: National and international markets for organic products, practical experiences in organic business organization and marketing, quality and certification of organic products,  markets and requirements for specific Indian/regional organic products and finances and funding for organic farmers and processors.

(Photo: Panel at one of the seminars)

Critical issues related to the furthering of the organic movement in India like competence of small and marginal farmers, market information and methodologies, value addition, standards and certification, diversification of organic etc. were discussed. Organic farming is an excellent tool for enhancing the livelihoods of small and marginal farmers who are resource poor and pursue agriculture in marginal lands under rainfed. Gerald A. Herrmann, Director of Organic Services, declared: “Organic Agriculture would be the most sustainable alternative to overcome poverty and bring about sustainable rural development. It is clear that there is need for more effort from the national and state Governments for the promotion of organic agriculture”.

All three seminars held in India recently attracted 350 attendees altogether. They took place in Kerala/Kochi, in Sikkim/Gangtok and in Himachal/Palampur. At the opening at Himachal Agriculture University about 500 people were present. The organic agribusiness is growing in leaps and bounds and the global organic business for 2006 worldwide was 37.6 Billion US$. “The organic markets in the EU, USA and national markets in India are excellent destinations for the organic produce whether single or value added coming from India”, according to Ramesh Harve, Director of Organic Services and Solutions India. (Photo: participants of one of the seminars)

Mukesh Gupta from the Morarka Foundation says concerning the Indian organic market: "At last big private companies and retail chains have started to take interest in organic sector. I believe from a total of about  400-500 million Indian Rupees of retail sales this year, it should go upto at least INR 1000-1500 millions (around 25 m Euros) by next year." The perspectives of organic agriculture and market in India are by the end of this year that about 1000 stores are retailing certified organic produce. In next three years this number could go upto about 5000 stores across the country in India. "This will necessitate substantial imports as well, almost 30-40 percent of total retail sales. This will truly integrate Indian Organic Market with Global Markets."

The workshops helped in enhancing capacities and competence of farmers, traders, researchers, input manufacturers, state cooperatives, commodity boards etc, which were the various stakeholders who participated in the seminar.

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