NEW DELHI - [18.05.10] India is targeting US$1 billion worth of organic product exports in the next five years, driven primarily by a greater demand for non-food products such as organic cotton.

Speaking at the 10th anniversary of India’s implementation of the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP), commerce secretary Rahul Kullar said that India‘s organic product exports had jumped to US$125 million from US$12 million over the last eight years and that with the growing potential of organic cotton, India could achieve its target by 2015.

Khullar also called for all stakeholders to focus more on promoting organic products in the domestic market. "We are not just concerned about organic products for export purposes, but also because environment-friendly farm practices will help achieve sustainable agriculture in the country," he said.

So far, the focus on exports has been on organic food items, such as, tea and spices. But there is also now a greater scope for non-food items. India’s cotton farmers can now use ‘Tracenet‘, a new government sponsored software package aimed at tracing organic products through the supply chain. The web-based system has been developed by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority APEDA to help speed up and streamline the process of organic exports and help establish the credibility of organic certification.

Although India’s target may appear high - the global market for organic products is estimated at over US$40 billion – the government’s confidence is based on the sector’s rapid growth over the last few years. Overall, India currently markets 90 organic products in 15 different categories with 2008 sales reaching US$100 million, up from US$25 million in 2005. The main export markets are Europe and the US.

With cotton already accounting for the largest market share, at about 25%, India should have few problems in finding the right land. About 60% of the agricultural land is said to be organic by default with the intensive use of chemicals in agriculture largely concentrated in the country‘s irrigated areas, which make up the remaining 40%.