I had the pleasure of meeting with Ramnik Singhji at his store in Sector 8 in Chandigarh on February 23. He described how by 2014 he had seen the environmental crisis developing in Punjab very fast in terms of deterioration of air, water and soil and so was drawn to organic farming and products. Khaalis Organics Collective is not legally a cooperative or collective, but is an informal cooperation of about 40 farmers, of which about 20 are active at any one time. Ramnikji has about 2.5 acres in Mohali.
Our discussion was mainly of a question-and-answertype. Electricity had gone out, so we sat in a lighted corner of his store.
Harinder: How can we educate consumers to give more value to organic produce and products?
Ramnik: His answer was that the strategy that one comes up with needs to be location specific, as the consumer is Chandigarh is very well sensitive about this, but there may be less sensitivity in, say, Batala. So, each location will need a different strategy.
Harinder: How can we help the market grow for organic produce?
Ramnik: There is big difference between theory and practical solutions. If we leave theory to one side, the practical aspect is that one needs to take advantage of location. In terms of exports, the bulk of exported products are going from Gujarat. So, the big thing what Punjabi NRIs can do in America and Canada is to demand organic produce from Punjab. When this request is made at the retail end when you go to Indian stores, then that will help the market in Punjab. If a situation develops that a farmer sees that for a certain weight, organic Haldi is selling for Rs 100 and inorganic Haldi is selling for Rs. 40, he will himself proceed to do it – may need at the most help with certification. One needs to pay attention to this process at the retail end, and then wholesalers and distributors will follow.
Harinder: How does one get certified to be organic and how can consumer be assured of this?
Ramnik: The farm needs to be certified organic annually. There isa cooperative process which farmers can do as a group, or there can be an independent agency doing it. The latter is more reliable and accepted globally. Independent agencies do it, but Punjab Agro is the facilitator, and the certificate is issued on their letterhead. European Union (EU) is the strictest in the world, and next is the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). In India we follow the USDA certification rules. Next, the processing plant needs to be certified – there can be no non-organic produce processed at that facility. The last step is an organization called APEDA (Ramnikji can educate us more about this). After lab test results and analysis of pesticide residues is evaluated, the certificate is issued. The process is complicated and so the best thing for a new supplier is to start small.
The products at his store were many – haldi, honey, pulses, daal, etc. I did ask Ramnikji about the best way for Pagri to go about setting up a nonprofit organization in Punjab and if he could help us with this process, but we did not discuss much on this. I thanked Ramnikji and we decided to continue our discussions in the future.
Harinder Lamba
Secretary, Pagri