New Delhi: The Union government is spending huge amounts on the promotion and marketing of organic farming and organic products. The Centre runs three schemes, National Programme for Organic Production, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, and Mission Organic Value Chain Development for the North-Eastern region, in addition to running a separate scheme for marketing organic products in India and abroad so that farmers can get better prices for their produce.
As per the latest official data, the Centre has so far spent Rs 2,952 crore on promoting traditional farming and on the development of the organic value chain in the north-eastern region, Rs 2,132 crore on Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), and Rs 820 crore on organic value addition mission in the north-east (MOVCDNER).
ETV Bharat explains how a farmer or farmer producer organization (FPO) can take advantage of these schemes.
National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP)
Under the NPOP, the Centre facilitates the certification of organic products in conformity with the importing countries' organic standards as per the equivalence agreement between the two countries or as per importing country's requirements.
It also facilitates the certification of organic products in conformity with the National Standard for Organic Production (NSOP).
Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)
The government has been implementing Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) and Mission Organic Value Chain Development for the North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER) for the promotion of organic farming through clusters and Farmers Produce Organizations (FPOs) in the country since 2015-16.
Both the schemes provide end-to-end support to organic farmers such as from production to processing, certification and marketing, and post-harvest management support including processing which helps to bring down the cost of organic products.
Under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana,the Centre provides financial assistance of Rs 50,000 per hectare for 3 years out of which, Rs 31,000 per hectare for 3 years is provided directly to farmers through DBT for on-farm and off-farm organic inputs.
The government also provides financial assistance of Rs 20 lakh per cluster of 1,000 hectares for 3 years for value addition and infrastructure creation.
Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region
The scheme aims the development of certified organic production in a value chain mode to link growers with consumers and to support the development of the entire value chain starting from inputs, seeds, certification, to the creation of facilities for collection, aggregation, processing marketing, and brand building initiative.
Under the Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER) assistance of Rs 46,575 per hectare for 3 years is provided for the creation of FPO, support to farmers for organic inputs, quality seeds/ planting material, and training, hand-holding, and certification.
The Centre also provides need-based assistance for post-harvest infrastructure and value addition up to a maximum limit of Rs 600 lakh for integrated processing units, Rs 37.50 lakh for integrated packaging houses.
One can also avail of the assistance of Rs 18.75 lakh for each refrigerated vehicle and cold store component, Rs 10 lakh for collection, aggregation, grading, and custom hiring center, and Rs 6 lakh for buying a four-wheeler for transportation.
The government has approved Rs 400 crore for this scheme.
