Quality system for organic products

Expressbuzz, Nov 24, 2009

BHUBANESWAR: Orissa’s organic products sector could soon find a firm footing in the international markets, thanks to a comprehensive quality and standards assessment mechanism that is being put in place by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) under the Union Ministry of Commerce.


APEDA is all set to launch the web-based Traceability System that will contain realtime information on the products by January. The global launch of the traceability software at Biofach, the world’s largest trade fair on organic products, in Germany a month later.

Importers, buyers and consumers will then be able to trace and affirm the quality maintenance of the organic products “right from the farm to fork,” as APEDA chairman Asit Tripathy put it. The system would have the minutest of details from not only the names of the farmers, farming practices, use of implements, certifications, path of the produce to processing and packaging. So comprehensive the system is that it would have the longitude and latitude details of the farms so as to enable the enquirers to actually see them realtime through Google Earth,” Tripathy said.

The mechanism has been devised to assuage the quality concerns of the major international markets, particularly European Union, the USA and Japan which have raised objections over residue levels. Traceability system has been already on ground for individual produce like grapes (grapenet) and pomegranates (anarnet) and deemed successful. The plan is to include all the around 550 products under the ambit of APEDA in the system, Tripathy said.

Organic products are high in demand worldwide. In 2008-09, export volume from India was to the tune of 44,476.23 tonne at Rs 536.9 crore. The growth rate for exports has been pegged at 50 per cent and rising. Orissa with its rich and varied resources can be a significant contributor to the organic product exports. Currently as many as 24 projects are on in cotton, medicinal plants, pulses, ginger, turmeric, spices, banana, peanut, sunflower, vegetables, mango, tamarind, coffee, rice, soap nut, mustard, orange, cashew nut and pineapple, etc.

About 63,436 hectares have been covered with around 33,651 farmers spanning Balangir, Phulbani, Koraput, Kalahandi, Titlagarh and Gajapati, advisor (org. products) of APEDA Dr PVSM Gouri said.

The authority has also started training stakeholders on the system and its processes like certification across the country and held one here today. While there are about 18 certifying agencies in the country accredited by APEDA, the Orissa State Seed and Organic Products Certification Agency is likely to become the certifier agency for Orissa.