May 15, 2012

India is experiencing rising organic food production over the last few years, according to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

In the year 2010-11, India produced 3.88 million tonnes of organic food, up from 1.70 million tonnes during the 2009-10 period. In the year 2008-09, the country produced 1.62 million tonnes of organic food.

The Indian government is offering incentives to producers of organic food products under the National Horticulture Mission (NHM). It is providing INR10,000 (US$183.63) per ha for maximum area of 4 hectares per beneficiary.

The government is providing 50% of the cost for setting up of vermi-compost units, subject to a maximum of INR30,000 (US$550.91) per beneficiary. In addition, it is providing organic farming certification at INR500,000 (US$9,181.89) for a group of farmers covering an area of 50 hectares.