Highlighting the importance of natural farming Union Minister Amit Shah said that its a matter of priority for the government and the process of forming a multi-state cooperative society by merging Amul and 5 other cooperatives for certification of natural products has also started.
The meaning of Shah’s assertion was not that Amul is being merged with other co-ops, as is being reported in the media. The fact of the matter is– Amul and four more co-ops will join hands for the purpose of organic certification and they will be carved into a separate multistate co-op for the purpose.
Shah said this while addressing the 70th plenary meeting of the North Eastern Council in Guwahati, Assam. Union Minister For Culture, Tourism And Development of the North Eastern Region, G. Kishan Reddy and Minister of State for Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region and Ministry of Cooperation, B.L.Verma, the Governors and Chief Ministers of the North Eastern States and senior officers of various departments of the Centre and the North Eastern States were also present in the meeting.
Shah said that after certification of these products, this cooperative society will also ensure their export, so that the profit will go directly to the bank accounts of the farmers. Shri Shah said that more than 500 laboratories across the country will certify the quality of soil and natural products.
“The govt has decided to make Amul do the job; its brand value will have an impact on the trustworthiness of the product”, felt Shah. The Ministry has decided to have such certification agencies operating in each district and each of them would be affiliated to the Amul Certification Agency at the apex level, he had underlined.
There are many small artisans who produce excellent stuff but for want of endorsement they fail to fetch a price. These issues would be tackled in a systematic manner, asserted Shah.
Amul will work with its brand to market organic products in the country and also globally, so that farmers who
are doing organic farming will get at least 30 percent more price for their products.
A day earlier, on Friday Shah inaugurated the Eastern and North-Eastern Cooperative Dairy Conclave 2022 in Gangtok and said that 15 years ago in a Himalayan state, no one could have imagined that cooperative dairy conclaves from across the country could be held here.
Shah said milk production is the only way for women empowerment, poverty alleviation and doubling of farmers’ income and it gives great peace of mind and feeling of joy to see the production of two lakh litres of milk per day by small farmer brothers in Sikkim.
Thanking the Prime Minister for having faith in the potential of the co-op movement, Shah said the cooperative sector is an important contributor to the GDP of Gujarat where 36 lakh women earn an annual income of Rs 56,000 crore through the Amul Federation.
