Bengaluru: Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said organically grown millets, black pepper and Byadgi chilli has great scope for exports, and necessary initiatives will be taken in this regard very soon.
"I have assured the minister (Karnataka Agriculture minister) that in the third week of May, I will ensure that we have a meeting with certifying agency APEDA, government of Karnataka and farmers to see how such value addition can be brought," she said.
Sitharaman was speaking at the valedictory of the three-day national conference and exhibition on organic farming and millets, 'Organics & Millets 2017,' organised by the Karnataka Agriculture Department here.
The minister said startups from the sector will now have to look at how to address the aggregation problem, while suggesting that if startups can be of help in aggregation, governments can help in very quickly organising exports of the products and there by getting better price for farmers.
"Governments, both central and state today don't have the power to recruit people for doing this aggregation. I would think a challenge exist for startups...," she said. "If they can have a way in which, they identify and certify farmers, and they link it up to whatever innovations they can bring in, and if aggregation is facilitated, export of goods- certified organic products are not difficult," she added.
Noting that in India organic products are being grown in five million hectares, Sitharaman said out of this, three million hectares are in the forest area, two million in the organized farming and there is immense scope for aggregation, value addition.
Karnataka Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said the three-day 'Organics & Millets 2017' event saw about 48,000 visitors and participation of 11,000 farmers.
About 20 MoUs were signed between companies and farmer federations during the trade fair, he said, adding, business potential worth Rs 100 crore is expected to be generated for farmers in the long term from the fair.
The state government has decided to organize international trade fair on organics and millets in Bengaluru early next year, and to set up a government-industry advisory council to popularise organics and millets, he said.
