By Our Staff Reporter
New Delhi, 30 August: Agriculture Minister Ganesh Joshi participated in a contract signing ceremony held in New Delhi, organized by the Uttarakhand Organic Products Council. The event featured Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah as the Chief Guest. An MOU was signed between the National Cooperative Organic Limited (NCOL), established under the Ministry of Cooperation, and the Uttarakhand Organic Products Council (Uttarakhand Government). The agreement aims to provide a platform for organic farmers, market access for organic products, expand market reach, improve organic production and marketing efforts, and increase farmers’ income. NCOL will fully support the Uttarakhand Organic Products Council in these endeavors.
In his address, Joshi mentioned that during his recent visit to Delhi in August, he had discussed Uttarakhand‘s organic product, such as Basmati rice, Amaranth, millets, pulses, with Shah and requested that NCOL purchase these products from Uttarakhand farmers. Minister Shah assured him of support. Joshi praised the department officials for their coordination with the Ministry of Cooperation and expressed pleasure at the MOU being signed within a month. He extended his gratitude to Amit Shah for this initiative.
Minister Joshi also thanked Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, whose leadership has enabled the Uttarakhand Organic Products Council to sign this MOU with NCOL. This partnership will provide farmers with opportunities to sell their products at higher prices, contributing to doubling their income. He noted that the Organic Products Council has made extensive efforts to develop the state as an organic hub.
Over the past eight years, the state has achieved significant milestones in organic farming, increasing the area under organic cultivation from 1-2% of the total agricultural area to nearly 40%. Currently, 4.80 lakh farmers are engaged in organic farming across 2.23 lakh hectares. Joshi congratulated the Managing Director and the entire team of the Organic Products Council for these achievements. He added that to promote the Organic Uttarakhand brand and develop income sources for farmers, efforts are being made to open organic outlets in airports and select cities on a franchise model. In the next month, NCOL will purchase organic rice from farmers.
Present at the event were State Minister for Cooperation Krishna Pal Gurjar, NCOL Chairman Minish Shah, Cooperation Secretary Ashish Bhutani, Managing Director of the Organic Board Uttarakhand Vinay Kumar, NCOL Managing Director Vipul Mittal, and several others.
