Union Minister Piyush Goyal Launched 8th Edition of NPOP in New Delhi

On January 09 2025, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Ministry of Commerce & Industry (MoC&I) launched the 8th edition of National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) at the Bharat Ratna C. Subramaniam Auditorium, National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC), Pusa in New Delhi (Delhi). The event was organized by the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

• During the event, he unveiled NPOP portal, TraceNet2.0, Organic Promotion Portal, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) portal and AgriXchange portal.
• He also distributed the 1st 5 registration certificates generated on newly launched, TraceNet2.0 to organic operators during the event.
• While addressing the event, the Union Minister highlighted that the total export value of organic farming in India has the potential to reach Rs 2,000 crore in the next 3 years.

Key Dignitaries:

i.Union Minister of State (MoS) Jitin Prasada, MoC&I; Union MoS Murlidhar Mohol, Ministry of Cooperation (MoC); Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Secretary of MoC and other senior government officials were present at the event.

ii.Representatives from major trading partners like: the United States of America (USA), European Union (EU), Australia, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, New Zealand, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

iii.Industry Leaders from international organisations like: Rome (Italy)-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Bonn (Germany)-based International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), and Germany-based Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL).

About NPOP:

i.NPOP was launched in May 2001, since then, it has undergone various revisions. The last revision of NPOP was made in 2014.

ii.The standards set by NPOP for crop production have been recognised by the European Commission(EC), Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK).

iii.The implementation of NPOP is being monitored by APEDA, the apex body under MoC&I.

Key Features of 8th NPOP:

i.The 8th edition of NPOP has introduced key amendments, which aimed to promote ease of operations and enhance transparency for stakeholders, including farmers.

• Key Target: The programme aims to strengthen India’s organic export sector, with an ambitious target of reaching USD 2 billion in organic food exports by 2030.
• Currently, India exports organic produce worth Rs 5,000- Rs 6,000 crore annually.

ii.The Certification process required for organic grower groups has been simplified and these groups are now granted legal status in place of the Internal Control System (ICS).

• The revised derogation provisions allow for a potential reduction of up to 3 years in the land conversion period to organic farm, subject to conditions and safeguards.

ii.Transparency is improved through the disclosure of information about organic farmers and other relevant information in the public domain, strengthening system credibility.

iii.Also, oversight mechanisms have been bolstered with the integration of Information Technology (IT) tools and the web-based traceability system, Tracenet, for monitoring, surveillance, and data analytics.

iv.The revised NPOP includes provisions for reduced conversion time from non-organic to organic farming and offers flexibility for farmers to switch service providers or production groups, ensuring they receive fair compensation.

Key Portals Unveiled at 8th NPOP:

i.NPOP portal: This portal is designed to provide more visibility and ease of operations for Organic stakeholders.

ii.Organic Promotion Portal: Through this portal, farmers, FPOs and exporters can demonstrate their certified organic products, generate Trade Leads and connect with international buyers.

• The portal will also feature online training and capacity building sessions for operators on Organic Production and also information on Organic Trade events.

iii.TraceNet 2.0: It is the upgraded online organic traceability system for seamless operations and improved tools for regulatory oversight.

• It will ensure transparency, traceability, and adherence for organic agricultural and processed food products from farm to market.
• This new version of TraceNet, which has integrated technology with agriculture, will empower the stakeholders to streamline operations and meet international organic certification standards.

iv.Redesigned APEDA portal: It is the redesigned and revamped version of APEDA portal with enhanced user experience and information for the benefit of Agric and Processed food products’ stakeholders.

v.AgriXchange portal: It is the redesigned and revamped version of APEDA portal , which will enable more user-friendly data analysis and generation of reports and data of Agricultural exports, thus making it accessible for the general public.

• This portal will enable the exporters to easily connect with global buyers and sellers as well as explore comprehensive trade insights at their convenience.

About Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoC&I):
Union Minister- Piyush Goyal (Constituency- Mumbai North, Maharashtra)
Minister of State (MoS)- Jitin Prasada (Constituency- Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, UP)