Earlier we used to eat seasonal fruit available locally, farmers used to deliver fruits and vegetables, milk directly to the houses but with time things changed and now most of the time we cannot get a consistent product. Due to fertilizers and synthetic chemicals and pesticides being used for excessive food production soils and aquatic life affected drastically even new cases of diseases are coming upward and now life of our planet is at stake. But now time is changing again, people are `becoming aware of effects of these foods on health, they are looking for Organic, minimally processed foods made without chemicals and additives. Now it’s time to live as naturally as possible within natures limits.
Now the popularity of Organic food is growing, Organic foods include fruits and vegetables, grains and any other agriculture commodities that are produced by using natural ingredients which are produced by building healthy fertile soils without using fertilizers, pesticides and do not contain genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) and no irradiation is used in organic food . Several studies have shown that organically produced foods were found to be better in terms of nutritive value and taste, they also contains low levels of undesirable compounds such as heavy metals, mycotoxins etc. Organic farms compared to conventional farms use less energy and produce less waste.
Organic farms are coming up where farmer has to get certification from government/private certification agencies. Government organizations have prepared guidelines for production, processing, labeling and marketing of organically processed foods to protect consumers against fraud in market place, to protect producers of organic produce against misrepresentation of other agricultural produce as being organic, to provide international guidelines for organic food controlsystems in order to facilitate recognition of national systems as equivalent for the purposes of imports. As part of 10th Five Year Plan (2002 -07), the government on India earmarked Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) for the promotion of sustainable agriculture in the country, but the main components of this initiative have benefited exports, from the establishing of national organic standards under NPOP (National Programme for Organic Production), putting in place a system of certification for products, and establishing APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority) as the nodal agency to promote exports opportunities.