Nuremberg, February 10 India is the ideal location for large-scale organic production, and the country is eager to collaborate with the EU to strengthen this ecosystem and meet rising demand, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said here on Tuesday.
Agrawal also said that India's organic product exports have tripled in the last 10 years, and the government now aims to triple them again in the next five years.
"India is the place" to serve the world as a good source of organic food, he said, adding that India has 150.3 million hectares of agricultural land under cultivation.
He said that the organic ecosystem is growing very rapidly in the country, as currently, 3% of India's agricultural land is organic.
In India, 4.7 million hectares of land is under organic cultivation, with 2.4 million farmers practicing it, and it is only increasing day by day, he said.
The Secretary was speaking at the inauguration of Biofach 2026. About 100 exhibitors from 20 Indian states, including Assam, Meghalaya, and Kerala, are here to showcase their organic food products at the world's leading trade fair, Biofach (February 10-13).
He informed that India is emerging as a credible supplier of organic food, both within India and outside.
"I see this happening much faster. So, if the world needs a state for organic production, I think India is the place, and we would like to work with all of you to see how we can improve the Indian organic food ecosystem to meet the rising demand within India and also the rising demand in our two largest markets," he said.
He called for building credibility around organic foods. There is a need to ensure trust and credibility around the certification of these products.
India started with the national program for organic production way back in 2001, and it was designed to adopt the international standards for organic goods.
"And now we are bringing in cooperatives in a big way," he said, adding that cooperatives can bring together and aggregate farmers to create a good and viable organic ecosystem in various villages across the country.
