Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurates Organic Food Festival

New Delhi: The Organic Food festival would provide an opportunity to women entrepreneurs for capacity building and economic empowerment, said Food Processing Industries minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

Inaugurating the 3-day long festival in New Delhi today with Smriti Zubin Irani, minister for Women and Child Development and Textiles, Badal highlighted the need for providing such platforms on regular basis for financial inclusion and empowerment of women and said that the government is planning to hold organic food festivals more frequently and in different parts of the country depending on unique organic products of particular region.

The festival for women entrepreneurs is as an outcome of the MoU (which aims at building capacities of women entrepreneurs) signed between the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) and Ministry of Women and Child Development (M/o WCD). Rameshwar Teli, MoS for Food Processing Industries and Debasree Chaudhuri, MoS for Woman and Child Development were also present during the inauguration

Badal said India has huge potential for organic produce and market. She added that most of the hilly areas and tribal areas in India are naturally organic. The minister said that while other parts of world are making special efforts to turn towards organic production, India has natural advantages which must be leveraged. She further said that this organic festival can be of international scale in near future.

Irani said that ministry of food processing industries can, through the organic food festival, engage with technology groups so that latest technology can be made available to women entrepreneurs.

Pushpa Subrahmanyam, secretary, ministry of food processing industries said that they will showcase achievements of women entrepreneurs through this festival. She said that food and beverage industry in India is fifth largest sector in manufacturing and that, India has the highest number of organic producers in the world.

Spread over an area of 6000 sqms of space, this is the first such event where 180 women entrepreneurs and self-help groups are participating from over 25 states and union territories with very interesting products on display from across the country. Kiwi from Arunachal Pradesh, black wheat, pesto sauce from Ladakh, chia seeds cookies and apricot oil from Uttarakhand are all available with the exhibitors and the people can relish these healthy products. This festival will strive to provide linkages to women producers to market and supply chains, thereby facilitating their financial inclusion.

The festival is open to public who can relish numerous varieties of the organic and healthy products of various states. People will also gain knowledge about the organic products grown and produced in different regions of India. The festival is being organized by National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as the Industry Partner, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi from 21st – 23rd February 2020.

Training and capacity building of women entrepreneurs and SHGs is another key focus area and trainings on post harvest management, product innovation, packaging and certification processes are being organized over the three days. The efforts are targeted towards helping producers understand importance of each step of the organic value chain and develop competence to cater to a broader consumer base.

According to a report by APEDA, India produced around 1.70 million tonne (2017-18) of certified organic products which includes all varieties of food products namely oil seeds, sugar cane, cereals and millets, cotton, pulses, medicinal plants, tea, fruits, spices, dry fruits, vegetables, coffee etc. On the demand side, increasing disposable incomes, increasing awareness around health and wellness and increasing acceptability are driving the growth in the organic food segment which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% during the period 2016-21 as per WFI report. The demand for Indian organic food products is on constant increase worldwide with India exporting organic products worth $ 515 million in 2017-18(based on APEDA report). Organic products mainly oil seeds, cereals & millets, sugar, fruit juice concentrates, tea, spices, pulses, dry fruits, medicinal plant products etc. are being exported to USA, European Union, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Israel, South Korea, Vietnam, New Zealand and Japan.