Three new coop societies will help solve many agri problems, raise farmers' income: Amit Shah

Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday underlined the need for promoting organic farming to protect soil health, and said the government has set a target to increase exports of organic food items by 10 times to Rs 70,000 crore in the coming years.

He was speaking after inaugurating the new office building, covering 31,000 square feet area, of three national-level multi-state cooperative societies -- Bhartiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Ltd (BBSSL), National Cooperative Organics Ltd (NCOL) and National Cooperative Export Ltd (NCEL) at World Trade Centre, Nauroji Nagar here.

Shah said these three societies, in the coming days, will succeed in filling all the gaps in the areas of organic products, seed conservation and enhancement, and exports.

The minister said NCOL, NCEL and BBSSL will help solve many problems in Indian agriculture and enhance farmers' income by promoting exports of farm products, including organic foods.

Shah rued that India's share is only USD 45 billion out of the total global agricultural produce market worth USD 2,155 billion, and said the government has set a target to reach USD 115 billion by 2030.

Pointing out that soil health is deteriorating due to the use of chemical fertilisers, the minister emphasised on encouraging farmers towards organic farming.

He announced that there will be a laboratory in every district over the next five years to certify organic farms and products.

Shah said NCOL will promote organic farming in the country and it has already introduced many organic products in the market under the 'Bharat' brand.

He expressed confidence that Bharat Organics will hold more than 50 per cent share in the domestic organic market by 2030.

The minister noted that the total global organic food market is Rs 10 lakh crore and India's exports of organic products are only Rs 7,000 crore.

''We want to grow India's organic exports to Rs 70,000 crore. It's an ambitious target but we will achieve it,'' he said.

Shah said organic pulses, rice and wheat flour (atta) are being used at his home and asserted that the consumption of organic products will rise in India.

NCOL would undertake the entire chain of organic products, including collection, certification, testing, standardisation, procurement, storage, processing, branding, labelling, packaging and export, he said, adding that the society would also serve as a guide for many cooperatives.

For seed society BBSSL, he said the target is Rs 10,000 crore turnover in the next five years.

Shah stated that the target is to increase the turnover of export cooperative society NCEL to Rs 1 lakh crore annually over the next five years.

To achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of ''Sahakar se Samriddhi'', all three cooperative societies will ensure the upliftment of the people associated with agriculture and related activities.

The government had earlier approved the setting up of these three cooperative societies, which have been registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002.

Cooperative societies of all levels (from district to state to national), which are interested in activities specified for each of the three societies, are eligible to become members.

NCEL has been formed to promote exports from the cooperative sector.

Member promoters of NCEL include Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF), Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO), Krishak Bharati Cooperative Ltd (KRIBHCO), National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

NCEL will undertake direct export of goods and services of cooperatives and related entities.

NCOL has been formed to realise the potential of organic products and create a healthy agriculture ecosystem.

It acts as an umbrella organisation for the aggregation, procurement, certification, testing, branding and marketing of organic products in the cooperative sector.

NCOL is promoted by NAFED, NDDB ( National Dairy Development Board), NCDC, GCMMF and NCCF.

NCOL will help in the increase of production of organic products, and it will also provide support in marketing authentic and certified organic products by the cooperatives and related entities at various levels.

BBSSL deals with advanced and traditional seed research and production and is responsible for their processing and marketing through the cooperative sector. It is promoted by IFFCO, KRIBHCO, NAFED, NDDB and NCDC.

BBSSL aims to increase the production of quality seeds in India on par with global standards through cooperatives, thereby reducing the dependence on imported seeds.

The good quality seeds will help in enhancing agriculture production, and in turn, income for seed-producing farmers.

All three societies will ensure the upliftment of the people associated with agriculture and related activities and procure agricultural produce and seeds from the farmers via PACS.

This would further lead to the strengthening of PACS as the farmers associated with them will get maximum value for their produce.

The societies will be working with the objective of ensuring that profits on the net surplus go directly to farmers' accounts, thereby preventing leakages in the process.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)