The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
NEW DELHI, NOV 08, 2023
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday launched the ‘Bharat Organics’ brand of the newly created National Cooperative Organics Ltd (NCOL) at a function here, and asserted that it would emerge as the most trusted brand in India and abroad.
The Union Minister also launched the NCOL’s logo, website and brochure; and distributed membership certificates to NOCL membership certificates to five cooperative societies.
Addressing a National Symposium on Promotion of Organic Produce, organised by the NCOL at ICAR Convention Centre, Pusa in the national capital, Shah said, “NCOL is a platform for organic growers. Today, we are launching six products under the ‘Bharat Organics’ brand and 20 products by December.”
The six organic products — tur dal, chana dal, sugar, rajma, basmati rice, and Sonamasoori rice — will be sold through Mother Dairy’s Safal outlets and online platforms, the Union Cooperation Minister said, adding that a network of retail outlets is being created across the country.
The NCOL will initially sell the organic products in India and later market the products abroad.
Shah announced that about 50 per cent of the profits from sale of organic products through NCOL would be transferred directly to member farmers.
He said, NCOL aims to cover the entire supply chain of organic products through cooperative networks by undertaking various activities like aggregation, certification, production, testing, procurement, storage, processing, branding, packaging, labeling, marketing, etc. for the ultimate benefit of farmer members.
Union Minister of State for Cooperation BL Verma, Cooperation Secretary Gnanesh Kumar, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal, NDDB Chairman & NCOL chief Minesh C Shah, and FSSAI CEO G Kamala Vardhana Rao were present at the event.
The one-day symposium deliberated on topics like Organic Production – need of the hour, certification process and criteria for organic products, importance of organic certification laboratories etc.
Registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 on 25 January, 2023, the NCOL is jointly promoted by three major cooperative societies of the country, namely National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Ltd (NCCF), Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) and two major statutory bodies of the Centre — National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) — to boost organic farming produce among cooperatives in the country.
The NCOL aims at increasing the return on produce while giving organic farmer and producer organisations direct access to the market.
With access to national and international markets under a strong brand, the members will get better returns for their organic produce. NCOL will act as an umbrella organisation by managing the entire supply chain of organic products produced by various cooperative societies and related institutions across the country in collaboration with the concerned Ministries of the Government of India, following the ‘Whole of Government Approach’.
The NCOL will operate in accordance with the cooperative ideals of self-help and mutual aid. Additionally, it will provide support to the cooperative sector and associated companies involved in the production of organic products. This assistance will include financing, capacity building, technical guidance, establishment and maintenance of market intelligence systems, among others.
