Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah on Wednesday launched Bharat Organics — the product brand of newly formed cooperative body National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL). He also unveiled the logo, website and brochure of the NCOL.
Shah was present at the National Symposium on ‘Promotion of Organic Products through Cooperatives as the chief guest. The program was organised by NCOL at the ICAR Convention centre, PUSA in New Delhi.
Addressing the gathering, Shah said that natural farming is one of the many goals set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the year of Amrit Mahotsav for building a self-reliant India. In order to achieve this goal, we have to work on many fronts and move ahead by coordinating between them. He said that the goal of taking natural farming above 50% cannot be achieved without a multidimensional approach and the works completed today are very important to achieve this goal.
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The NCOL is jointly promoted by Amul, National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Ltd (NCCF), National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC). It is launched with an authorised capital of ₹500 crore. So far, it has more than 950 members in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Nagaland. Over 2,000 membership applications from cooperative institutions have also been received.
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Shah said that the NCOL will also work as a platform for marketing, branding and export of the products of farmers engaged in natural farming. After integration, certification, testing, standardisation, procurement, storage processing, branding, labeling, packaging and marketing of organic products, the entire export work will be done by the organisation, which will give recognition to our organic products in the global market in the coming days.
Speaking on the occasion, Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB, said, “Today we have launched the Bharat Organics brand with 40,000 packets ready for the market. Procurement is a very important aspect of the process. We will make networks for procurement, processing and distribution in the coming months. Currently, we are focussing on main staples like rice, pulses, wheat, wheat flour, sugar, and jaggery, among others. Later, we would expand our product portfolio to other staples. Further, we would also include milk and milk products too.”
The Union minister’s address was followed by cultural events and he also distributed membership certificates to NCOL members.
He also informed that today the website of NDDB Soil Limited and organic fertilizer produced from Varanasi biogas plant also inaugurated. He said that NDDB and Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited (GSFC) have also registered a brand for high quality cow dung. They have also set up a cow dung gas plant with a capacity of 4,000 cubic meter in Varanasi.