Organic food revamp: India's ₹100 cr strategy to boost quality, affordability

livemint.com:

₹100 crore to add about two dozen laboratories for testing organic products as well as upgrade existing labs, two people aware of the development told Mint. The move is aimed at enhancing the quality of organic food available in the domestic market and ensuring better pricing for the country's 4.43 million organic farmers. This comes as a response to the rapid expansion of India's organic food market and the current limited capacity for testing organic products, said one of the persons cited above, who did not wish to be named.

By fast-tracking sample testing, the Bureau of Indian Standards aims to keep pace with market growth. As of 12 January 2024, an estimated 67 labs were equipped to handle organic food testing and certification process. The BIS, under the ministry of consumer affairs, plans to fund states and institutes of central government to upgrade their food testing labs.

The programme will be implemented in partnership with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), and over 90 labs are expected to be ready for organic products’ testing in the next three months, said the other person, who also requested anonymity. Queries sent to the BIS director general, secretary, spokesperson of the consumer affairs ministry, and chief executive of FSSAI remained unanswered till press time. India had the highest number of farmers practising organic farming (1.4 million) in the world, while Australia had the largest area under organic agriculture (36 million hectares), according to a World of Organic Agriculture report 2021.