India farmers may soon get 20% higher MSP on organic produce

The Indian government is considering bringing organic produce under the minimum support price (MSP) system. This is a great way to encourage pesticide-free farming in the country. It is important to mention that presently there is no support price for the organic produce, except in the state of Sikkim.

In a recent meeting, the Agriculture Ministry discussed offering 20 percent higher MSP for the organic farm produce, over non-organic or traditional ones. An official who was part of this discussion spoke of a detailed presentation on this subject by the Ministry.

On the other hand, states with continued organic farming asked for other ways like geo-tagging of the organic area, with the specific logo for organic produce and issuing unique IDs to growers to ensure traceability of organic farms.

Apart from the eight north-eastern states -including the all-organic state of Sikkim- ten others states also took part in the discussion and gave their suggestions regarding MSP and minimum procurement plan for organic produce. So far 2,3 million hectares have been brought under certified organic farming in India.

Kavitha Kuruganti of the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture: “I think procurement of organic produce will be very useful. It will help those farmers who end up selling their high quality organic produce as non-organic produce in the absence of a market”.