New Agriculture Export Policy to unveiled soon, to double farmer’s income: Suresh Prabhu

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New Delhi: Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said that the government is preparing agro specific zones under the new Agriculture Export Policy which will be unveiled soon.

“India produces nearly 600 MT of agri products including horticultural produce and its strategy is to increase farmer’s income by doubling it and reducing the wastage of food products to the bare minimum,” Prabhu said at the inauguration of Biofach India.

Biofach India event is on organic industry organized by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Indo-German of Commerce in New Delhi.

He also emphasised on the need to cater to the niche market of organic food.

'India is bestowed with the potential to produce all varieties of organic produce due to the country’s varied agro climatic regions. India also has the added advantage of inheriting a tradition of organic farming. It is a great advantage for organic producers to tap the market which is growingsteadily in both domestic and export markets,” he said.

India ranks first in terms of total number of organic producers and 9th in terms of worlds organic agricultural land.

In 2017-18 India produced around 1.70 MT of certified organic products which includes all varieties of food products like oilseeds, sugarcane, cereals and millets, cotton, pulses, medicinal plants, tea, fruits, spices, dry fruits, vegetables and coffee.

Total volume of organic exports during 2017-18 was 4.58 lakh MT and brought in USD 515.44 million.

India’s organic products are exported to USA, EU, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Israel, South Korea, Vietnam, New Zealand and Japan.