◊ By Dr Karthik Nagendra

NOTE: To access contact details of Indian Organic Ingredient Suppliers, buy the Organic Directory

According to recent research study by Aditi Organic Certifications Pvt Ltd, over 92% are aware of organic products mainly in the category of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables.

Over 57% cited the inability to identify genuine organic products as cause for hesitation in making purchases. When people talk about ‘Organic’, there is a need to check whether the producers have followed Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).

To address this concern, the Quality Council of India (QCI) has introduced a voluntary certification programme called IndG.A.P. (India Good Agricultural Practices).

Organic farming with GAP can be optimised to meet particular goals. Profitability is usually an important goal, since without profit one can’t keep farming. Integrating IndG.A.P. with organic farming can help to prevent certain environmental problems.

Introducing IndG.A.P. to small and marginal land growers can prevent on-farm contamination of fruits and vegetables. GAPs are a new way of thinking about food safety. They can also be uses to maximise farm produce in different ways.

Farmers can self-assess and learn about potential food safety hazards that can occur on the farm or orchard and take preventative steps to avoid contamination with harmful microbes and chemical residues.

The IndG.A.P. certification can not only prevent the public from illness, but also, it could protect your farm business from the economic consequences of food contamination.

WHAT IS IndG.A.P.?

IndG.A.P is a voluntary certification scheme developed to certify GAPs in India. It has been designed to promote sustainable agriculture to bring in a culture of food safety, enhanced produce quality, and optimisation of human and natural resources by agrarians. This, in turn, will result in better price realisation of produce, thereby securing and strengthening livelihoods of small and marginal farmers.

GENERAL MODULES UNDER IndG.A.P

1. All Farm Base Module
2. Crop Base Module includes – Fresh Fruits & Vegetables, Combinable Crops, Tea, Green Coffee and Spices
3. Agro Biodiversity Module

KEY COMPONENTS OF IndG.A.P STANDARDS

• Soil Amendments & Soil Fertility Management, including INM (Integrated Nutrient Management)
• Planting Material, including Seeds and Vegetative Propagation Materials
• Water Management
• Pest & Disease Management, including IPM (Integrated Pest Management)
• Workers’ Health and Safety
• Harvesting Practices and maintenance of good sanitary, as well as, hygienic conditions, right from the farm to the final packaging stage

Organic farming and IndG.A.P. certified products must be marketed to ensure the consumers are receiving products grown with the least risk of cross-contamination.

When it comes to the production of fresh fruits and vegetables, the assessment of farms with the IndG.A.P. certification criteria helps farmers to ensure consumers of the quality of their produce, which, in turn, fetches them better prices.

According to the study by Aditi Organic, over 60% of consumers buy organic products on a daily or weekly basis. This could be beneficial to farmers if they can convince the end consumers of the quality and authenticity of their produce.

IndG.A.P-certified products must be grown for local consumption to reduce food-borne ailments.

People think anything green and fresh is organic and farmers do not see the need for certification if it is just for local consumption. Our studies show that over 54% of consumers do not know the difference between ‘Organic’ & ‘Natural’!

The local consumer must increase their consumption of certified organic products. This will encourage local farmers to embrace such certification, while following good agriculture practices.

WHY SHOULD PEOPLE BUY ORGANIC/IndG.A.P-CERTIFIED PRODUCTS?

The certification process helps to define measurable improvement in terms of increased productivity, quality of the produce and income level for the grower.

In the case of small and marginal landholdings, the farmers are unable to market their products directly to consumers. They may need support from a middleman or a consolidator to take the farm produce to the consumers.

IndG.A.P./Organic certification helps farmers to communicate the value of their time spent in taking extra care of crop production, as well as, the extra money spent to maintain minimum infrastructure to mitigate the risks of cross-contamination identified during self-assessment and external inspections.

The State Governments can play a key role by supporting farmers who opt for this certification by allocating to them, designated hygienic areas in city markets.

ROLE OF THE CONSUMER IN ENCOURAGING PRODUCTION OF HIGH-QUALITY, PURE FOOD

Every consumer must be aware of the traceability of the product, whether at a supermarket or at a retail shop. The consumer must be able to track the entire journey of the product—trace it right back to the concerned farmer who grew the produce—in order to prevent/eliminate quality issues.

Consumers must look for a certification mark and be willing to pay a premium price for the healthier farm produce. Herein comes the role of a third-party certification body like Aditi Organic Certifications, to verify and assure consumers of sound product quality.

Certification helps the farmer to sell his produce for a better price with minimum wastage at every stage of product handling.

The pandemic has taught us that in the future, what we eat will play a key role in building our immunity against microbial (bacteria/fungus/virus)-based diseases. Hence, it is all the more important that we help the farmer to grow and market directly to consumers by way of certification.

The IndG.A.P. certification also helps legally registered farmers to apply for group certification. Only by robust planning of production, consolidation of farm produce, can a farmer group develop a sustainable business module.

WHAT CONSUMERS NEED TO DO TO ENSURE THEY RECEIVE HIGH-QUALITY FOOD

• Must interact with farmers and read about the difference between Conventional produce and Organic certified produce.
• Must learn to identify certified organic products (by scanning for legitimate organic logos on product packets).

The author is COO, Aditi Organic Certifications