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Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming, is an agricultural system that uses fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting. It originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Certified organic agriculture accounts for 70 million hectares globally, with over half of that total in Australia. Biological pest control, mixed cropping, and the fostering of insect predators are encouraged. Organic standards are designed to allow the use of naturally-occurring substances while prohibiting or strictly limiting synthetic substances. For instance, naturally-occurring pesticides such as pyrethrin are permitted, while synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are generally prohibited. Synthetic substances that are allowed include, for example, copper sulfate, elemental sulfur, and veterinary drugs. Genetically modified organisms, nanomaterials, human sewage sludge, plant growth regulators, hormones, and antibiotic use in livestock husbandry are prohibited. Organic farming advocates claim advantages in sustainability, openness, self-sufficiency, autonomy and independence, health, food security, and food safety.
The organic movement broadly refers to the organizations and individuals involved worldwide in the promotion of organic food and other organic products. It started during the first half of the 20th century, when modern large-scale agricultural practices began to appear.
Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products. In general, any business directly involved in food production can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, food processors, retailers and restaurants. A lesser known counterpart is certification for organic textiles that includes certification of textile products made from organically grown fibres.
Basmati, pronounced['bɑːsmət̪iː], is a variety of long, slender-grained aromatic rice which is traditionally grown in the Indian subcontinent, mainly India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. As of 2019, India accounted for 65% of the international trade in basmati rice, while Pakistan accounted for the remaining 35%. Many countries use domestically grown basmati rice crops; however, basmati is geographically exclusive to certain districts of India and Pakistan.
Quality Assurance International (QAI) is a U.S.-based international organic certification company that is authorized by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as "a USDA-accredited certifying agent that operates globally to certify organic operations to National Organic Program standards." It is a for-profit corporation, established in 1989, and headquartered in San Diego, California. It is one of the world's largest certifiers, operating in the United States, Canada, Latin America, European Union, and Japan.
Nepali tea is a beverage made from the leaves of tea plants grown in Nepal. They are distinctive in appearance, aroma and taste, but are similar in many ways to tea produced in Darjeeling tea, perhaps because the eastern zones of Nepal have geography and topography similar to Darjeeling. Its relatively smaller production quantities mean that teas from Nepal are less well known than those from Darjeeling.
Darjeeling tea is a tea made from Camellia sinensis var. sinensis that is grown and processed in Darjeeling district or Kalimpong district in West Bengal, India. Since 2004, the term Darjeeling tea has been a registered geographical indication referring to products produced on certain estates within Darjeeling and Kalimpong. The tea leaves are processed as black tea, though some estates have expanded their product offerings to include leaves suitable for making green, white, and oolong teas.
An organic product is made from materials produced by organic agriculture. Most well known organic products are organic food items, however clothing and personal care items can also be made with organic agriculture.
Product certification or product qualification is the process of certifying that a certain product has passed performance tests and quality assurance tests, and meets qualification criteria stipulated in contracts, regulations, or specifications.
Organic food, ecological food, or biological food are foods and drinks produced by methods complying with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity. Organizations regulating organic products may restrict the use of certain pesticides and fertilizers in the farming methods used to produce such products. Organic foods are typically not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or synthetic food additives.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standards Body of India under Department of Consumer affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India. It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 which came into effect on 12 October 2017. The Minister in charge of the Ministry or Department having administrative control of the BIS is the ex-officio President of the BIS. BIS has 500 plus scientific officers working as Certification Officers, Member secretaries of technical committees and lab OIC's.
The Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) authorizes a National Organic Program (NOP) to be administered by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). The program is based on federal regulations that define standard organic farming practices and on a National List of acceptable organic production inputs. Private and state certifiers visit producers, processors, and handlers to certify that their operations abide by the standards. Once certified, these operations may affix the USDA Organic Seal. USDA has established four distinct categories for labeling organic products—100 percent organic, organic, "made with" organic ingredients, and specific organic ingredients—and only 100 percent organic and organic categories can use the USDA Organic Seal. It is illegal for anyone to use the word "organic" on a product if it does not meet the standards set in the law and regulations. The regulations under the OFPA are intended to set uniform minimum standards for organic production. However, states may adopt additional requirements after review and approval by USDA. AMS re-accredits certifying agents every 5 years, maintains federal oversight to assure truth in labeling, and provides assurance that imported organic products have been produced under standards that are equivalent to the U.S. standards.
Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS), as defined by IFOAM, are "locally focused quality assurance systems. They certify producers based on active participation of stakeholders and are built on a foundation of trust, social networks and knowledge exchange." They represent an alternative to third party certification, especially adapted to local markets and short supply chains. They can also complement third party certification with a private label that brings additional guarantees and transparency. PGS enable the direct participation of producers, consumers and other stakeholders in:
Sustainability standards and certifications are voluntary guidelines used by producers, manufacturers, traders, retailers, and service providers to demonstrate their commitment to good environmental, social, ethical, and food safety practices. There are over 400 such standards across the world.
AGMARK is a certification mark employed on agricultural products in India, assuring that they conform to a set of standards approved by the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection an attached Office of the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare under Ministry of Agricultural & Farmers Welfare an agency of the Government of India. The AGMARK Head Office at Faridabad (Haryana) is legally enforced in India by the Agricultural Produce Act of 1937 . The present AGMARK standards cover quality guidelines for 224 different commodities spanning a variety of pulses, cereals, essential oils, vegetable oils, Fruits and Vegetables and semi-processed products like vermicelli.
The ISI mark is a standards-compliance mark for industrial products in India since 1950. The mark certifies that a product conforms to an Indian standard (IS) developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the national standards body of India. The ISI is an initialism of Indian Standards Institution, the name of the national standards body until 1 January 1978, when it was renamed to the Bureau of the Indian Standards. The ISI mark is mandatory for certain products to be sold in India, such as electrical appliances including switches, electric motors, wiring cables, heaters, kitchen appliances, etc., and other products like Portland cement, LPG valves, LPG cylinders, automotive tyres, etc. In the case of most other products, ISI marks are optional.
India Organic is a certification mark for organically farmed food products manufactured in India. The certification mark certifies that an organic food product confirms to the National Standards for Organic Products established in 2000.
The Quality Council of India (QCI) was set up as a public private partnership model on the model existing in Netherlands at the time, where although the National Accreditation Body (NAB) was not owned by the government, the government supported it and it was exceedingly used as a third party agency to improve quality in departments and industry. QCI thus came to be organized as an independent autonomous body that worked towards assuring quality standards across all spheres of economic and social activities. Key industry associations, i.e. Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) became the promoters of the organizers and QCI got established under the Societies Registration Act in 1996 to provide accreditation services in various sectors for product, services and persons.
Multiple symbols have been developed to represent lacto-vegetarianism and veganism. Several are used on food packaging, including voluntary labels such as The Vegan Society trademark or the V-Label as well as the vegetarian and non-vegetarian marks mandated by the Indian government. Symbols may also be used by members of the vegetarian and vegan communities to represent their identities, and in the course of animal rights activism.
References
- ↑ "About BIS - Bureau of Indian Standards".
- ↑ "Directorate of Marketing and Inspection. 'Promotion of Standardization and Grading of Agricultural and Allied Produce'". Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
- ↑ Ministry of food processing industries. Archived 2012-04-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Basmati certification in India. Basmati Export Development Foundation.
- ↑ Spices Board of India. 'Organic certification mark'. Archived 2012-08-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ APEDA. 'National Standards for Organic Products.'
- ↑ Bureau of Indian Standards. Official web site. 'Product Certification Schemes.'
- ↑ Department of Ayush. 'AYUSH Mark'. Archived December 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Voluntary Certification Scheme For Ayush Products. Introduction.
- ↑ Voluntary Certification Scheme For Ayush Products. Use of the Mark.
- ↑ Tea Board. 'Darjeeling Tea'.