- This division is now serving as a focal point for coordinating efforts to promote country's organic export potential.
- APEDA also formulated roadmap to push organic exports from Uttarakhand and Sikkim, focusing on enhancing farming practices, optimizing certification procedures, and identifying prime export product.
- Sikkim is the first Organic State of India.
- Organic farming is a sustainable agriculture system that excludes use of synthetic inputs in farming and relies on on-farm inputs like crop residues, farmyard manure, enriched composts, etc. for nutrient management of crops.
- India's rank 6th in terms of World's Organic Agricultural land as per 2021 data.
- Madhya Pradesh is largest producer of organic products followed by Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Odisha.
- Organic products are exported to USA, Canada, Great Britain, Switzerland, Turkey, Australia, Ecuador, etc.
- Significance of organic farming: Improve soil fertility, reduce erosion, lowers environmental pollution, reduce greenhouse gas etc.
- Challenges with Organic farming
- Yield of organic farming is around 18.4% lower than that of conventional farming.
- High certification cost, and inadequate supporting infrastructure.
- Requires more time for observation, timely control, and intervention. It is naturally more labor-intensive.
Initiatives to promote Organic farming
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