APEDA to showcase India’s strength in organic products
APEDA is organising India’s leading trade fair for organic food
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), a statutory body under Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, will be showcasing India’s strength as major hub for organic food prod- ucts, ingredients, commodities and processed food at the three-day Biofach India 2019, India’s leading trade fair for organic food to be held in NCR, New Delhi from November 7-9, 2019.
Biofach India 2019, the largest event of organic agriculture and organic food sector of India having the presence of entire organic agriculture and food fraternity from across the country, is being organised jointly by the Nurnberg Messe India and APEDA.
“More than 6000 delegates comprising of exporters, processors, retail chain industry, certification bodies and producers from India and abroad will be participating in the trade fair-cum-exhibition to discuss and have first-hand feel of the Indian organic products including tea, spices, honey, basmati rice, coffee, cereals, dry fruits, vegetables, processed foods and medicinal plant,” said Paban K Borthakur, Chairman, APEDA.
“The major highlight of Biofach will be setting up of an organic theme pavilion by APEDA having direct display of items and to provide direct business opportunity to India organic food product producers with visiting international buyers through B2B and B2S meets. APEDA is inviting and sponsoring more than 75 buyers from important importing countries for direct market linkages of producers with international trade,” said Borthakur.
“The demand for organic Agri products is on constant increase worldwide as organic products are grown under a system of agriculture without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides,” the Chairman said.
“India produced around 2.67 million MT (2018-19) of certified organic products. The production is not limited to the edible sector but also produces organic cotton fiber and functional food products” he added.
“Among different states Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. In terms of commodities Oil seeds are the single largest category followed by Sugar crops, Cereals and Millets, Fiber crops, Pulses, Medicinal, Herbal and Aromatic plants and Spices and Condiments. The total volume of export during 2018-19 was 6.14 lakh MT. The organic food export realization was around INR 5151 crore (757.49 million USD),” he said.
“India exported organic products worth Rs. 5151 crore in 2018-19, from Rs 3453 Crore in 2017-18 (US$ 515 million ) registerng an increase of about 49 Per cent . The major demands under the organic product category are for flax seeds, sesame and soybean; pulses such as arhar (red gram), chana (pigeon pea); and rice, along with tea and medicinal plants. USA and European Union member-countries were the biggest buyers of organic products from There is a growing demand from Canada, Taiwan and South Korea in recent years, Germany is one of the biggest importers of Indian organic products. Now, many new countries are also taking interest” he said.