The union cabinet on Wednesday approved the setting up of a national level Multi-state cooperative export society under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002. Thi was informed by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupendra Yadav.
"Cabinet approved setting up of a national level Multi-state cooperative export society under Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002. It'll help in achieving the goal of 'Sahakar Se Samriddhi ' through the inclusive growth model of cooperatives," said Union Minister B Yadav during a cabinet briefing.
It is thus imperative for cooperatives to think globally and act locally to leverage their comparative advantage.
Therefore, there is a felt need for a national-level cooperative society to be registered under the Second Schedule of the MSCS Act, 2002 for providing thrust to organic products from the cooperative sector by acting as an umbrella organisation for managing various activities related to the organic sector.
Primary to national level cooperatives societies including primary societies, district, state and national level federations, multi-state cooperative societies and Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) can become its Members. All these cooperatives will have their elected representatives on the Board of the society as per its bye-laws.
The cooperative society will manage various activities related to the organic sector by providing certified and authentic organic products. It will help in unlocking the demand and consumption potential of organic products in domestic as well as global markets.
This society will also help cooperatives and ultimately their farmer members in getting benefits of the high price of organic products through aggregation, branding and marketing on large scale by facilitating testing and certification at affordable cost.
The cooperative society will also provide institutional support for aggregation, certification, testing, procurement, storage, processing, branding, labelling, packaging, logistic facilities, marketing of organic products and arranging financial assistance to the organic farmers through its members' cooperatives including Primary Agricultural Credit Societies/Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) and will take up all promotion and development related activities of organic products with the help of various schemes and agencies of the Government. It will empanel accredited organic testing labs and certification bodies that meet the criteria specified by the society to bring down the cost of testing and certification.
The society will manage the entire supply chain of organic products produced by cooperatives and related entities through member cooperatives It will utilize the services of the national cooperative export society being set up under the MSCS Act, 2002 for export marketing and thereby enhance reach and demand of organic products in the global market.
It will also facilitate in providing technical guidance, training and capacity building of organic producers and developing and maintaining a dedicated market intelligence system for organic produce. While promoting organic farming, a balanced approach will be maintained between regular mass farming and organic farming.
(with inputs from ANI)
