From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Oct 5: A three-day Organics and Millets International Trade Fair 2019 will be held in Bengaluru from January 18 to 20.

Briefing reporters during the curtain raiser in Bengaluru on Friday, N. H. Shivashankara Reddy, Agriculture Minister, said the flagship event will revolve around the theme: ‘K-Source, celebrating the State of Karnataka as the source for Next Gen Smart Foods’.

The Organics and Millets International Trade Fair 2019 will comprise of three aspects namely exhibition, conference and food court.

The event, which is mainly for farmers, buyers, sellers and exporters of organic produces and millets, will have the participation of over 250 exhibitors occupying an exhibition space of 10,000 square meters including stalls from other states, countries.

Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and several farmer federations from Karnataka. International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture (ICCOA) will be the knowledge partner for the event. “The second edition of the Organics and Millets International Trade Fair 2019 will be the largest congregation of India’s Organic and Millets community,’’ he said.

The minister explained that through this event, “We want to emphasise our positioning of Karnataka as the Organics and Millets Capital of India. We will be conducting roadshows in places like Coimbatore, Pune and New Delhi to create awareness about the event and encourage participation.’’

“We will also be conducting key district level melas across the State to attract visitors and participation. We will also be conducting roadshows abroad to rope in foreign delegations, buyers, food processers, bloggers and journalists. The Trade fair has brought in a new era in the field of organic foods and millets across a wide spectrum of stakeholders. We hope that more people turn to organics and millets as part of their daily food intake and take advantage of its health benefits.” Shivashankar Reddy said.

He explained that favourable climate and a diverse production base offer immense opportunities for the State. Our farmers have combined indigenous and innovative methods to pioneer the organics and millet agriculture movement.

“Organic agriculture sector in the State is gaining momentum with markets experiencing double digit growth year-on-year, while millets have emerged on the scene as the new nutri-cereal,’’ he said pointing out that, The Organics and Millets International Trade Fair 2019 will address all aspects of the value chain, from farm to shelf, provides the perfect launch pad to position the State of Karnataka as not only a source for Next Gen smart foods and businesses, but also a source of Next Gen Customers, Next Gen markets and a source of new opportunities.”

In his address, Maheshwar Rao, Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture, said, “The previous edition of the event saw footfalls of around 1 lakh visitors including farmers, students, scientists, businessmen and general public. More than 225 B2B and F2B meetings were conducted during the event.’’

Business and potential orders generated at the event was to the tune of Rs 107 crore with MoUs worth 13218 metric tonnes of organic and millet products being signed. Long term commitments for the next three years are estimated at Rs 340 crores. From the international perspective, we had six delegations participating from USA, Japan, South Korea, China, Germany and The Netherlands. Business of around Rs.4.5 crore was generated across various counters during the three days fair, he said.

The state government had initiated a unique policy in the year 2004 to promote organic farming in the State by adopting a holistic approach. Since then, several schemes and programmes of the state government have been implemented to promote organic farming. The area under organic cultivation registered a steady growth in the State from 2500 hectares to 100,000 hectares as on date.

A revised policy on organic farming was brought out during 2017 incorporating new objectives and strategies giving major thrust to marketing. Organic farmers associations formed under the promotional programmes in the State have been categorized into 15 regional organic federations through which organics and millets processing and marketing activities are being taken up. The ultimate objective of the policy is to develop an organised market and to popularise organics and millets as ‘Super Foods,’’ he said.

Manoj Kumar Menon, executive director ICCOA said, “The Government of Karnataka is the first State to have Organic Policy in 2004. Since 2004, the area under organic cultivation registered a steady growth from 2500 hectares to one lakh hectares area under fully certified organic cultivation as on date. As per APEDA, the State wise export data in 2017-2018 total value of organic product exported from Karnataka is about Rs 186 crore. As per ICCOA’s estimate total value of Organic Production from Karnataka would be around Rs 8000 crore.’’

“There is big potential for farmer’s revenue to expand if they are connected through proper market structure. This trade fair is organized to serve the same objective and make Karnataka an Organic and Millets Hub,” he said.

Representatives from the federations, buyers and exporters were present at the curtain raiser.