Organic Market Size and Growth

India has much larger area, which have used minimal pesticides and chemical where potential for conversion exist, organic movement has taken a root in many of the states and there is growing demand especially in cities and market is expected to grow more than 20 per cent annually. It is envisaged that 20 per cent of production shall be organic in 5 years. 

As far as the global organic food and beverages market is concerned, it is expected to grow from $57.2 billion in 2010 to $104.5 billion in 2015 at an estimated CAGR of 12.8 percent.  The organic beverages segment accounted for nearly 13% of the global market share in 2010 with an expected CAGR of 14.8% from 2010 to 2015. 

Markets are evolving to demand highly processed organic products as well as raw commodities. In Europe, markets are expanding for ready-to-eat meals, frozen foods, baby food, snacks, and beverages. Organic food processing ingredients include juices, fruit powders, dried fruit, meat, flavorings, essential oils, herbs and spices, and nuts. 

Sample trade flows into Europe are from Israel (fresh produce), Brazil-Chile-Argentina (fresh produce, soy, and wheat), other European countries (baby food, processed foods, cereals, and meat), Canada (wheat, soy, and canola), Mexico-Central America (bananas, citrus, and coffee, cocoa), Sri Lanka-India (tea), and the United States (processed foods of all types, wheat). 

As of 2007, almost 35 million hectares are managed organically out of which   11.8 million hectares are in Australia. More than 60 countries have a regulation / law on organic farming (FiBL/IFOAM).  More than 60 million hectares of land are certified as organic wild collection (Organic Services ITC)

 As of 2007, the countries with the greatest organic areas are Australia (12.1 million hectares), China (3.5 million hectares) and Argentina (2.8 million hectares). The percentages, however, are highest in Europe. In total, Oceania holds 39 percent of the world’s organic land, followed by Europe (21 percent) and Latin America (20 percent). The proportion of organically compared to conventionally managed land, however, is highest in Europe. Latin America has the greatest total number of organic farms.

The international organic sales have reached 38.6 billion US Dollars in 2006 double that of 2000, when sales were at 18 billion US Dollars. It surpassed the 40 billion US Dollar mark in 2007. With demand for organic foods outpacing supply, high growth rates are envisioned to continue in the coming years (Organic Monitor).

For example the fresh produces (fruits and vegetables) are the highest selling organic food categories with 37 percent of the organic foods segment in terms of revenue. Organic supplements are the fastest growing segments in the organic industry with an estimated CAGR of 22.3 percent from 2010 to 2015; with Europe expected to continue its dominance in the segment for the same period.

Leading countries

Organic farming is bound to grow in many parts of the world as many countries are developing their own standards and regulations.  The United States and EU started many comprehensive National organic farming regulations in Japan, Canada and Australia. Similarly, countries such New Zealand, Israel, Brazil, China and some more countries have adopted organic standards equivalent to those of USA and the European Union. China.

The organic foods segments account for the highest share (approx. 86%) in the overall organic food and beverages market. Europe is the largest consumer of organic food, beverages and supplements; while Asian and ROW segment is expected to have the highest growth rates of 20.6% and 16.2% respectively due to high domestic production, increasing per capita income, and regulatory reform initiatives in countries including China, India, Singapore, Australia, and Latin American countries such as Brazil and Argentina.

SOCIAL BENEFIT OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

The social sustainability of farming techniques is related to the ideas of social acceptability and justice. Ignoring these issues risks losing valuable local knowledge and provoking political
unrest.

Inclusiveness: Development cannot be sustainable unless it reduces poverty for the broad masses of people in India. The government must find ways to enable the rural poor to benefit from agricultural development.

Political unrest: Gaps between the "haves" and "have-nots" feed a feeling of social injustice among those who feel neglected and excluded from development opportunities, as well as from better-off
sympathizers. The result is a climate favourable to political opposition and even violence.

Local acceptance: Many new technologies fail because they are based on practices or assumptions from outside.Sustainable agricultural practices usually are based on local social customs, traditions, norms and taboos, so local people are more likely to accept them and adapt them to their own needs.

Indigenous knowledge: Sustainable agricultural practices often rely on traditional knowhow and local innovation.Local people have a wealth of knowledge about their environment, crops and livestock. They keep locally adapted breeds and crop varieties. They have social structures that manage and conserve common resources, help people in need, and maintain the social fabric. Rather than ignoring or replacing this knowledge, sustainable agricultural development seeks to build on it and enrich it with appropriate information from outside.

Gender: In traditional agriculture, women traditionally bear the heaviest burdens in terms of labour. In modern conventional farming, too, men often benefit the most: they control what is grown and how the resulting income is spent. Sustainable agriculture attempts to ensure that the burdens and benefits are shared more equitably between men and women.

Food security: Traditional farming techniques often fail to produce enough food, or enough variety of food for a balanced diet. Conventional modern farming focuses on a few commodities, so people still do not have a balanced diet. Sustainable agriculture improves food security by improving the quality and nutritional value of the food, and by producing a bigger range of produce throughout the year.

Participation: Traditional society in India is riven by wealth and caste distinctions. Introducing conventional farming innovations tends to exacerbate these: the rich and higher-caste tend to benefit,
while the poor and lower-caste are left out.Sustainable agricultural interventions consciously target the less well-off, and empower them so they can organize and speak with their own "voice", so promoting dialogue and democracy.

ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Agriculture cannot be sustainable unless it is economically viable over the long term. Conven-
tional agriculture poses greater long-term economic risks than "sustainable" alternatives.

Export vs local orientation: Governments tend to view export-oriented production systems as more important than those that supply domestic demands. This is misguided. Focusing on exports alone involves hidden costs: in transport, in assuring local food security, etc. Policies should treat domestic demand and in particular food security (either by farmers producing food for themselves, or by selling produce for cash they can use to buy food) as equally important to the visible trade balance.

Debt: The Green Revolution raised India’s grain output significantly, but a vast number of small-scale farmers ran into a debt trap: they took out loans to raise their production, then found they could not pay the money back. About 40,000 were so desperate that they committed suicide.

Risk: Concentrating on specific commodities seems to promise high economic returns. But market production implies certain risks: markets change quickly, and international agricultural prices are dropping. Cheap foreign food may sweep into the national market, leaving Indian farmers without a market. As a World Trade Organization signatory, the Indian government is under pressure to deregulate and open its economy to the world market, so cannot protect its farmers behind tariff walls.

Niche markets: Organic agriculture is one of the strongest ways to farm in an environmentally sustainable way. The demand for certified organic products is increasing quickly, opening opportunities to expand sales of such products and to explore niche markets.

Employment Farming is the main source of employment for rural people. Trends towards specialization and mechanization may increase narrowly measured "efficiency", but they reduce employment on the land. The welfare costs of unemployment must be taken into account when designing national agricultural support programmes. Sustainable agriculture, with its emphasis on small-scale, labour-intensive activities, helps overcome these problems.

ECOLOGICAL BENEFITS OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Many traditional and most conventional farm practices are not ecologically sustainable:
they overuse natural resources, reducing soil fertility, causing soil erosion, and contributing to global climatic change. Sustainable agriculture has several major advantages over both traditional and conventional practices:

Soil fertility: A continuous fall in soil fertility is a major problem in many parts of India. Sustainable agriculture improves fertility and soil structure and prevents erosion, so would be an answer to this problem.

Water: Irrigation is the biggest consumer of fresh water, and fertilizer and pesticides contaminate both surface-and groundwater.Sustainable agriculture increases the organic matter content of the topsoil, so raising its ability to retain and store water that falls as rain.

Biodiversity: Sustainable agricultural practices frequently involve mixed cropping, so increasing
the diversity of crops produced and raising the diversity of insects and other animals and plants in and around fields.

Pollution: Pesticides are hazardous to human health as well as to the local ecology. Incorrect handling, storage and use of pesticides lead to health and pollution problems. Sustainable agriculture reduces or eliminates the use of hazardous chemicals; instead it controls pests with a variety of biological and agronomic measures and the use of natural substances.

Landscape: Agriculture and forestry clothe the rural landscape. Inappropriate use causes erosion, landslides and flooding, clogs irrigation channels, and reduces the ability of the land to support the local population. Impoverished rural people flock into the cities in search of jobs, forming unsightly, insanitary slums that further destroy the landscape. Rehabilitating ecologically damaged areas needs huge investments that few countries can afford. Sustainable agriculture avoids these problems by improving productivity, conserving the soil, avoiding the expansion of farming into unsuitable areas, and preserving rural jobs.

Climate: The way agriculture is practised contributes significantly to global climatic changes. Conventional agriculture contributes to the production of greenhouse gases in various ways: by reducing the amount of carbon stored in the soil and in vegetation, through the production of methane in irrigated fields, and through energy-intensive activities such as the production of artificial fertilizers. Adopting sustainable agriculture would reduce these impacts significantly.

why agricultural and rural development?

The Indian government’s commitment to agriculture is a global success story. Since Independence in
1947, India has succeeded in significantly reducing the number of people living in poverty.
In the early 1960s, India introduced "Green Revolution" technologies: high-yielding grain varieties, fertilizer, pesticides and irrigation. By the early 1990s, India was self-sufficient in food-grain production. But not everyone has enough access to the food produced, and India is still the country with the most poor people on our globe: of India’s 1028 million people (in 2001), around 300 million people were classified as "poor", and the majority of these live in rural areas. India’s ability to reduce poverty will determine the overall success of achieving
United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDG1-"eradicate extreme poverty and hunger").

Most people in rural India depend directly or indirectly on farming for their livelihood. Despite this, not enough attention has been given to agriculture to overcome poverty. The importance of agriculture to stimulate rural growth is generally accepted, but politicians have failed to establish the necessary frame conditions for rural economic growth.It is widely accepted that agricultural growth and human development (in the fields of education,health and women’s issues) are key factors for rural development.The World Bank,the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, as well as bilateral development agencies agree that investment in agricultural growth helps reduce poverty and ensure pro-poor growth more than any other form of intervention.
The agricultural sector has potential to create economic growth in rural areas. It generates job opportunities in adding value (as in the food processing industry), in bringing agricultural
products to the consumer (market linkages), and in providing support (infrastructure, information,
quality control and training). Rising populations mean more demand for food. Improved standards of living in much of the world also mean greater demand for quality food (more meat, dairy products and organic food). If these demands are to be met, national farm outputs must rise, and farmers must produce different types of products. In addition, access to food must be improved for those who still cannot meet their basic needs, wherever they live – in remote rural areas, marginal areas or urban slums.
India is a vast, diverse country. The 28 States and seven Union Territories differ vastly in terms of their natural resources, administrative capacity and economic performance. The northern and northeastern states, especially, are still very poor. There is a wide range of scientific knowledge on how to practise sustainable agriculture; what is missing are the steps needed to implement these techniques on a much larger scale.

ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCER AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS IN INDIA(2004)

ABHA PRECISION FARMING PVT LTD-JAIPUR
ACCELERATED FREEZE DRYING COMPANY-COCHIN
ACCOLADE OVERSEAS LTD-MUMBAI
ACE NATURALE FRUITS AND FOOD PVT LTD-VADODARA
ACHAL INDUSTRIES-MANGALORE
ADINATH CORPORATION-NEW DELHI
AGENCY FOR INTEGRAL DEVELPMENT ACTION-NAGALAND
APEDA-NEW DELHI
AMAR SINGH AND SONS-JAMMU AND KASHMIR
AMIT SPINNING INDUSTRIES LTD-MUMBAI
ARYAN INTERNATIONAL-NEW DELHI
ATIK PRIVATE LIMITED-NEW DELHI
BEC FOODS-BHILAI
BIHAR RURAL DEVELOPMENT CENTRE-BIHAR
BIOFACH-NURNBERG
BIOTECT CONSORTIUM LTD-NEW DELHI
BMB MARKETING AND ENGINEERING-NEW DELHI
BOSCO REACH OUT-ASSAM
CAMMELLIA TEA GROUP PVT LTD-KOLKATA
CENTRAL POULTRY BREEDING FARM-CHANDIGARH
CHINNAPPA-KARNATAKA
CHOKHANI TEA AND TEA SEED ESTATE-ASSAM
COCONUT DEVELOPMENT BOARD-KERALA
COMMISSIONER OF AGRIGULTURE-CHENNAI
DEFRAUD TEA COMPANY-UTTARANCHAL
DESTITUTE WOMEN UPLIFT SOCIETY-MANIPUR
DIRECTORATE OF AGRICULTURAL MARKETING
DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION AND DEPT OF AGRI PROMOTED SELF HELP GROUPS VILLAGES-RAJASTHAN
ECO FARMS PVT LTD-NAGPUR
ENFIELD AGROBASE LTD-CHENNAI
FAIR TRADE EV(SAVA ADDRESS)-JAMNNAGAR(GUJURAT)
FOODS AND INNS LTD-MUMBAI
FRESPO FOOD PRODUCTS-CUTTACK
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES PROJECT-NDDB,NEWDELHI
GIRAFFE INTERNATIONAL-ROHTAK
GLOBAL TRADE ADVISER-KOLKATA
GOLAKA ENTERPRISES-BANGALORE
GOOD SEMERITAN SOCIAL SERVICE ASSOCIATION-MANIPUR
GREEN ACRES-GUJURAT
GREWAL'S ORGANIC AGRICULTURE FARMS-HARYANA
GURDASPUR AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT AGENCY(ATMA)-PUNJAB

MAJOR ORGANIC PRODUCTS IN INDIA AND THERE PRODUCTION

MAJOR ORGANIC PRODUCTS IN INDIA TYPE PRODUCTS
Commodity :Tea, coffee, rice, wheat
Spices :Cardamom, black pepper, white pepper, ginger, turmeric, vanilla, mustard, tamarind, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, chili
Pulses :Red gram, black gram
Fruits :Mango, banana, pineapple, passion fruit, sugarcane, orange
Nuts: Cashew nut, walnut
Vegetables: Okra, eggplant, garlic, onion, tomato, potato
Oil seeds: Sesame, castor, sunflower
Others Cotton, herbal extracts
Source: Market Opportunities and Challenges for Indian Organic Products; Salvador V. Garibay, Katke Jyoti; Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and ACNielsen ORG-MARG; February 2003