Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah will address National Symposium on Promotion of Organic Produce, organised by National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL), at ICAR Convention Centre, Pusa, New Delhi on Wednesday, 08th November, 2023. Shri Amit Shah will also launch the logo, website and brochure of NCOL and distribute the membership certificates to NCOL members. During the one-day symposium, objectives of NCOL, importance of organic produce along with role of cooperative societies in the upliftment of small and marginal farmers will be discussed.

In line with the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji’s vision of “Sahakar Se Samriddhi”, NCOL has been established as a national-level multi-state cooperative society to make India global leader in organic products. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and able guidance of Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, Ministry of Cooperation has taken 54 initiatives in the last 27 months to strengthen cooperative movement in the country. Establishment of a national-level Cooperative to promote organic products is a significant step towards boosting rural economy, promoting “Make in India” along with paving way for “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” and “Local to Global”.

NCOL aims at increasing the return on produce while giving organic farmer and producer organisations direct access to the market. By having access to national and international market under a strong brand, the members will get better return 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’. It will undertake and promote the aggregation, branding and marketing of organic products produced by cooperatives. Any Cooperative Society or an association of persons (as may be permitted by the Central Registrar) can become a member of NCOL. As on date, around 2,000 cooperative societies have already become member of NCOL or applied for its membership. 

The objective of NCOL will be achieved through the facilitation of various activities, including creation of a knowledge repository and conducting research & development. NCOL will also provide support to the cooperative sector and associated companies involved in the production of organic products. This will include financing, capacity building, technical guidance, establishment and maintenance of market intelligence systems, among others.

The Symposium will also have technical sessions on topics like Organic Production – need of the hour, certification process and criteria for organic products, importance of organic certification laboratories etc.  More than 1000 participants are going to attend the Symposium, including members of NCOL, officials from Government of India/States/UTs, MSCS/FIs/Cooperative Unions/District Cooperative Unions/Organic Certification Bodies and testing laboratories, experts from organic sector and other stakeholders from across the country. Large number of participants will also join the event through virtual medium.

NCOL was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 on 25 January, 2023. Three major cooperative societies of the country- 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 Government of India National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) have jointly promoted NCOL.

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RK / AY / AKS / RR