Organic farmers are growing crops in former Warangal and Siddipet districts, including three types of rice, beans, millet, groundnuts, chilli and horticultural crops.
Updated – Wed 19 Apr 23 at 05:56pm
Warangal: With the formation of a Farmer Producer Organization (FPO) called ‘Rythu Vikasa FPO’ under the cooperative law, several organic farmers in the former Warangal area are now planning to sell their produce online and door-to-door.
As people’s health awareness increases, the demand for organic agricultural products is increasing day by day. FPO is also planning to open a branch in the city under the name “Rythu Vikasa Organic Mart”. It built and opened one such supermarket in Bala Samudram, Hanamkonda on Tuesday.
For several years, Bala Vikasa, a leading NGO in South India, has been encouraging organic farming in the former Warangal and neighboring Siddipet districts by providing logistical and administrative support to farmers.
Speaking to Telangana Today, Food Safety Program Officer P Thirupathi said 1,700 organic farmers work with them.
“While 1,100 are from the former Warangal district, 600 are from Siddipet district. Most of them are certified organic farm producers,” he said.
“Organic Farmers Association (FPO) has 50 members. They plan to open more outlets. This will also help consumers as they can buy real organic produce at these stalls at a lower price compared to products in other stores ,”He said.
Organic farmers are growing crops in former Warangal and Siddipet districts, including three types of rice, beans, millet, groundnuts, chilli and horticultural crops. Farmers need to have practiced organic farming for at least three years to be certified. The Agricultural and Processed Foods Export Development Authority (APEDA) provides certification to organic farmers through a third-party agency.
Under the Corporations Act 2013, the state government came up with the concept of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) to aggregate agricultural products and create market linkages for better prices. Since the establishment of an FPO will also help to obtain financial support from the government, the organic farmer group registered as an organic FPO in 2014.
The state’s Telangana Organic Certification Authority (TOCA) provides organic certification to farmers and trade bodies. TSSOCA inspects and certifies agricultural products and food processing by assessing compliance with NPOP standards and other international standards.
The Allied Agriculture Department’s Participatory Guarantee Scheme (PGS) also issues certificates to organic farmers and incentivizes more farmers to grow organic food.
