Large Area Certification’ scheme Department of Agriculture, | UPSC PIB NEWS
Large Area Certification’ scheme
Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW) is working to identify Traditional Organic Areas to transform them into certified organic production hubs.
What’s in the news?
◆ The Government of India has certified 14,491 ha of such area under Car Nicobar and Nancowry group of islands in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
◆ This area becomes the first large contiguous territory to be conferred with organic certification under the ‘Large Area Certification’ (LAC) scheme of the PGS-India (Participatory Guarantee System) certification programme.
◆ Under LAC, each village in the area is considered as one cluster/group.
◆ All farmers with their farmland and livestock need to adhere to the standard requirements and on being verified get certified en mass without the need to go under conversion period.
◆ Certification is renewed on annual basis through verification by a process of peer appraisals as per the process of PGS-India.
◆ The LAC is a quick certification programme under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana.
Benefits of LAC:
◆ As per the established norm of organic production systems, the areas having chemical input usage history are required to undergo a transition period of minimum 2-3 years to qualify as organic.
◆ During this period, farmers need to adopt standard organic agriculture practices and keep their farms under the certification process.
◆ On successful completion, such farms can be certified as organic after 2-3 years. The certification process also requires elaborate documentation and time to time verification by the certification authorities.
◆ Whereas under LAC requirements are simple and the area can be certified almost immediately.
◆ LAC is a quick certification process that is cost-effective and farmers do not have to wait for 2-3 years for marketing PGS organic certified products.
Background:
◆ Organic farming has been identified as a viable option promising safe and chemical residue-free food and long-term sustainability of food production systems.
◆ Realising the importance of environmental and human benefits of chemical-free farming, the Government of India through the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has been promoting organic/natural farming through various schemes of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, Organic Mission in North East, etc. since 2014.
◆ The government is taking steps through the LAC to proactively transform traditional organic areas into certified organic.
◆ According to the ministry, there are traditional areas in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, north-eastern states and tribal belts of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh and desert districts of Rajasthan which can be transformed to ‘certified organic’.
#GS3
JOIN-- @UPSC_PIB_NEWS
