Marketing behavior of organic inputs in India: Some experiences

Organic farming is being practiced in 37.5 million hectares by 1.9 million registered organic producers in 164 countries of the world. The organic food market in the world is 63.8 billion US dollars. Currently, India ranks 16th in terms of culti vable land under organic certi fi cation in the world. The certi fied organic land area in India includes 15% culti vable area and rest 85% is forest and wild area for collecti on of minor forest products. The total area under organic certi fi cation is 5.2 million hectare. Further expansion in area under organic farming in India will depend upon production, availability and quality of organic inputs. Both organic output & input marketing will decide the offtake of organic farming in India. India has a organic food market potential worth of Rs 6000 crores and only 40–50% of total market potenti al is tapped so far. Most organic output produced in India are sold through natural food stores, conventional food stores, direct sales to consumers while most of the organic inputs are sold either as direct sale to organic producer or through dealers or distributors or Government insti tutions. A small portion is exported to foreign markets. The three main marketing channels are through direct marketing, through dealers and distributors in the same district or neighboring districts and through marketi ng corporati ons. Efforts have been made to promote appropriate production methodologies among farmers for effective conversion of organic waste into nutrient rich compost and for preparing botanical extracts for pest management. But sti ll there is a scope for the entrepreneurs to come forward and establish production facility to produce consistent quality products and make available to farmers at reasonable prices. The total production of rural compost urban compost, farm yard manure, vermicompost, bioferti lizers and biopesti cide at all India level was 1693 lakh t, 697 lakh t, 1862 lakh t, 31 lakh t, 38932 t and 1000 t. The complete database about availability of organic input in India is not available or yet to be organized. Only few Government and private companies have started commercial production of nutrient based inputs and bio-pesticides in limited scale. The case studies indicate that, the scenario of organic input production in India is slowly gaining momentum with the increased awareness of the farmers. Government plays an important role for further expansion of organic farming in India. Establishment of organized input market channels, encouragement of organic input usage by subsidization and conduct of more awareness/training programs about them would enhance the demand for organic input production in India. This paper discusses about status of international and domestic organic markets and documents the Indian experience in organic input production and trade