Organic farm area rise in Madhya Pradesh didn't benefit farmers: Assocham

BHOPAL: Industry body Assocham today said that area under organic farming in Madhya Pradesh has increased to over 26 lakh hectares in 2014 from 4.32 lakh hectares in 2010 but farmers have not been able to reap its benefits.

"Total area under organic farming in Madhya Pradesh has increased from 4.32 lakh hectares in 2009-10 to over 26 lakh hectares in 2014. But, farmers have not been benefited by it as the certified organic farming area under cultivation remained at just 1.48 lakh hectares," an Assocham study, released by D S Rawat, national secretary general, said.

Besides, the state government has not been able to implement its draft policy for organic farming that was formulated way back in 2010.

As a result, the certification process of organic farming has not gathered pace, the study noted.

Organic farming provides livelihood to 1.7 lakh farmers in Madhya Pradesh alone but their income have not increased due to poor certifying facilities. While in other states, incomes of farmers practicing certified organic farming have increased 10-fold, the study said.

"Fruits and vegetables account for a lion's share of about 40 per cent in the entire organic market and the state produces a huge amount of it but unfortunately most of its remains outside the purview of organic produce," Rawat said.

"Clocking a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15 per cent, global organic food and beverage market is expected to be more than double to USD 161 billion by 2018 from an estimated value of about USD 80 billion in 2013," he added.