Cabinet approves setting up of 3 cooperatives to promote exports, organic products, seeds

The Cabinet approved setting up and promoting a national level multi-state cooperative export society, with support from relevant ministries, for undertaking exports of all goods and services produced by cooperatives and related entities.

“The proposed society will provide thrust to exports from cooperative sector by acting as an umbrella organisation for carrying out and promoting exports. This will help unlocking export potential of Indian cooperatives in global markets,” an official statement said.

This proposed society will also help cooperatives in getting benefits of various export related schemes and policies of different ministries of government.

A national level multi-state seed cooperative society will also be set up. This cooperative will act as an apex organisation for production, procurement, processing, branding, labelling, packaging, storage, marketing and distribution of quality seeds; strategic research and development; and to develop a system for preservation and promotion of indigenous natural seeds; through various cooperative societies across the country with support from relevant ministries.

“The proposed society will help to increase the seed replacement rate, varietal replacement rate, ensuring the role of farmers in quality seed cultivation and seed variety trials, production and distribution of certified seeds with a single brand name, by utilizing the network of all levels of cooperatives,” the statement reads.

The availability of quality seeds will help in increasing agricultural productivity in strengthening food security and also increasing the income of farmers. Members will benefit both by realization of better prices by production of quality seeds, higher production of crops by use of High Yielding Variety (HYV)seeds and also by dividend distributed out of the surplus generated by the society.

The seed cooperative society will involve all forms of cooperative structures and all other means to increase the SRR, VRR by ensuring the role of farmers in quality seed cultivation and seed variety trials, production and distribution of certified seeds with a single brand name.

The Cabinet also approved setting up of a national level multi-state cooperative organic society, which will act as an umbrella organisation or aggregation, procurement, certification, testing, branding and marketing of organic products. It will help in unlocking demand and consumption potential of organic products in domestic as well as in global markets.

This society will also help cooperatives and ultimately their farmer members in getting benefits of high price of organic products through aggregation, branding and marketing on large scale by facilitating testing and certification at affordable cost.