In the last three posts, we've learned about organic farming and its positive impacts on the environment. We talked about how robots can help farmers. And also saw examples of people who switched careers to organic farming. Today, we will understand how the organic products industry can go from a promising to a flourishing industry.
Existing Sources & Challenges:
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Farmers/Suppliers are unable to sell their products
The production of organic products has increased in recent years but due to the poor distribution facilities by the government, farmers find it difficult to make sales and generate profits for themselves. The small producers residing in hilly areas or places that are not well-connected face difficulty to access the market.
Poor supply chain management and storage
There is also a lack of refrigeration vehicles which results in the spoiling of crops. To avoid contamination, organic products have to be stored separately from conventionally grown products but the current supply chain doesn't have facilities for this.
Consumers are not able to find products
This is the direct effect of poor supply chain management. As not all the suppliers are able to reach the markets, there is a lack of enough organic products. But, this is only half the picture. A lot of e-commerce are already selling organic food online in India. Some of the well established names are BigBasket and Grofers. These are well established names and have proven how beneficial they are for increasing the reach of organic products to urban areas.
Cost of organic products is still expensive
Since organic products, unlike conventional products, are not yet produced in mass, their cost remains high. Even in today's times, deals involving organic products are done by word of mouth. The distributors have no way of knowing when grocers would need more products. This inefficiency leads to a decrease in products and the result is, hike in prices.
There are a lot of challenges but that doesn't mean condition of organic farming is deteriorating. India, currently holds number one position in terms of total organic farmers. Sikkim is already a fully organic state and other states like Uttarakhand are trying to do the same. And all this has been possible by the continuous support from the government under various schemes.
Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Regions and Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana are two programs which were launched in 2015 by the Indian Government to help promote organic farming. And these programs have started to show results as we are now exporting a good amount of organic products to countries like America, Italy, and Switzerland.
Upcoming Sources:
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| photo credits: goodto.com |
Connecting Buyers and Suppliers
There needs to be better communication between the buyers and suppliers. Supply chain software can come to the rescue. These software provide real time updates of the organic distributors. They also help to inform when the merchant's stock levels are low. This is beneficial for both the parties.
A portal named Jaivik Kheti has been launched by the Ministry of Agriculture(MoA) and Department of Agriculture(DoA) to promote organic farming. And this portal has huge potential to increase the availability of organic products. It acts as an e-commerce as well as knowledge portal. This portal links farmers to the sellers. And also allows consumers to order organic products that get delivered on their doorstep. The portal provides various case studies and information about the best practices in agriculture to help the farmers.
Supporting farmers shifting to organic
The majority of the farmers continue to use conventional methods as changing to organic farming will initially come with a risk of reduced yields. This would happen due to the sudden absence of any chemical being used on a land area that was accustomed to conventional farming. In countries like the UK, the government provides subsidies to farmers for the loss of yield they face due to shifting to organic farming. This allows the farmer to shift to organic farming without any fear of loss.
Technological Innovation
Proper use of technology can be a game-changer for the organic industry. The government needs to invest in startups and businesses trying to promote organic products. That would also increase the production of organic products and help to bring the costs down.
Various startups like Organic Shop, Isayorganic, and Farm2Kitchen have come up in recent years. These startups are bridging the gap between the suppliers and consumers. Consumers should be given easy access to buy organic food online and this is what these startups are trying to do. To make things better better storage facilities as well timely delivery of the products will have to be ensured. And, if done properly organic products will flourish like the conventional products.
Hope For a Better Tomorrow
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| photo credits: cupitfood.com |
India can be a world leader in terms of exporting organic products. The conclusion that comes out of this is that improving the existing supply chain management and coordinated working of all the stakeholders as well as few policy changes are necessary to make organic products abundantly available in the market.
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Thanks for enlightening these area of development where India can shine brilliantly, and that too without any external help
ReplyDeleteIndia has great potential in this field. We just need few right steps. Thank you for reading.
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