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Karnataka to set up Rs 20 cr organics and millets hub, ITF, from Jan 23-25
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Thursday, 23 January, 2025, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Nandita Vijayasimha, Bengaluru
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The Karnataka Government will set up a Rs 20 crore organics and millets hub in Hebbal. This adjoins the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, which is housed in the GKVK campus. The government has also disbursed Rs 106 crore to the organic and millet farmers to date.
At the curtain raiser of the International Organics and Millets Fair 2025 (ITF) to be held from January 23 to 25, 2025, in the Palace Grounds, State Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy said the event aims to bring together farmers, farmer groups, domestic and international companies along with State and Central ministers engaged in the cultivation and production processes of organics and millets in the country. This initiative highlights the state's commitment to promoting sustainable agricultural practices and boosting the organic and millet farming community.
The Organics and Millets Fair 2025 aims to serve as a platform to explore new opportunities and establish effective marketing linkages for stakeholders in the sector. The initiative will feature over 300 stalls and include lectures by 30 international and national speakers, focusing on topics related to organics and millets. This was stated by the minister, highlighting the hub's role in fostering knowledge exchange and market growth for organic and millet products.
"The government aims to popularise and promote traditional and conscious dietary choices that benefit future generations. This initiative aligns with the broader goal of cultivating and preserving traditional native crop varieties. By emphasising sustainable agricultural practices and supporting the growth of organics and millets, the government seeks to ensure both nutritional well-being and ecological sustainability for the long term," said the minister.
Karnataka has been promoting organic farming as a sustainable alternative for the last two decades. In this regard, it organised the first Organics and Millets Fair in 2017. In fact the government realising the importance of organic agriculture as early as in 2004 brought out a State policy on organic farming and has implemented several schemes and programmes under the policy to promote organic farming in the State. Several programmes were initiated as organic farming addresses sustainable food production, soil health, nature conservation, rural development and mitigation of drought situation.
The Market Based Specific Crop Organic Cluster Development Programme was implemented in certified Savayava Bhagya Yojane project areas with a focus on organic market based specific crops or commodity in order to provide bulk & continuous supply to meet the market demand. Further, focus was provided to develop proper linkages between producers and consumers by strengthening the supply chain mechanism on value chain mode by supporting activities related to production, collection, grading, value addition, processing, packing, brand development, wholesale and retail marketing of organic produce.
As per APEDA, currently, Karnataka ranks 10th in the country in terms of certified organic area and fourth in terms of total certified organic annual production. The Savayava Siri Programme was implemented for the promotion of organic farming. Under the scheme, capacity building in organic farming is provided to the eligible farmers of the State, along with the development of model organic farms and organic seed production farms, desi vegetable seed production and local/forest fruit seeds/seedling production in the State agriculture/ horticultural universities.
The Scientific Validation of Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) System was implemented as experimental trials through the concerned State Agriculture/ Horticulture Universities in 10 Research Stations on Operational Research Project (ORP) mode. Also, Chief Ministers Natural Farming scheme was implemented through State’s Agri/Horticultural Universities as farmers participatory research in 1,000 acres farmers fields under each of the five Agri/Horticultural Universities.
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