The organic food market in India is growing at 25-30 per cent, but the awareness about organic farming is still low in India despite huge spending, said a study by industry body Assocham and TechSci Research.
The report highlighted that the domestic organic food market would touch the $1.36 billion mark by 2020.
In 2014, the size of the organic food market, which is highly unorganised, was $0.36 billion, and organic pulses and foodgrains took the lion’s share of the market, it said.
According to the study, India’s organic food market has potential to grow more than 25 per cent annually to touch $1.36 billion by 2020, provided there is more awareness about these products and the government incentivises region-specific organic farming to ensure consistent growth in future.
Emphasising on the need to increase awareness about certified organic food products, the study said, “The level of awareness about organic food products in India is extremely low and is limited to consumers in metro cities.”
The study suggested that companies in collaboration with the government should organise awareness and training programmes for farmers as well as consumers.
“This would result in optimum utilisation of resources, cultivation of better quality food products and overall increase in productivity as well as consumption,” it added.
The study also recommended that organic producers should focus on pulses and foodgrains to maximise earnings, besides tapping export potential in the Middle-East and South-East Asia, which have high concentration of high net worth individuals.
The current growth in the organic food market is driven by rising health consciousness, changing lifestyles, mounting disposable spending and growing availability of organic food products in shopping malls and retail outlets.
More growth is expected in future as the government is increasingly supporting organic farming in the form of subsidies and is also planning to roll out a comprehensive policy in this regard.
As per the government data, organic farming is practised in 12 states in about 4.72 million hectares. In 2013-14, organic food production was 1.24 million tonnes.
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