First NE India Organic Week begins in city
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 29: Meghalaya on Friday opened the first Northeast India Organic Week, launching a multi-agency push to expand the state’s certified organic farmland to 1 lakh hectares—about 25 per cent of its cultivated area by 2028.
The event, jointly organised with APEDA under the Union Commerce Ministry and IFOAM-Organics Asia, brought together delegates, importers and officials from 13 countries.
It also combined two major platforms: the APEDA International Buyer-Seller Meet and the 4th IFOAM World Organic Youth Summit.
APEDA officials said the organisation has been working with Meghalaya to strengthen market access for products such as ginger, turmeric, fruits and spices in emerging markets in the Middle East, improving linkages and returns for farmers.
At the inaugural session, APEDA General Manager Dr Saswati Bose described the occasion as an important moment for India’s organic sector and said Meghalaya’s biodiversity and community-driven farming systems make it well-placed to expand organic agriculture.
State Agriculture Commissioner and Secretary Dr Vijay Kumar D. said Meghalaya has recorded 10 per cent annual growth over the last four years, led largely by agriculture. He noted the chief minister’s goal of more than doubling farmers’ income by 2028, supported by a hub-and-spoke marketing system connecting village-level centres to larger Prime Hubs.
He also cited a new ₹25-crore ginger processing unit, calling it the largest organic spice processing facility in the Northeast.
He pointed to Lakadong turmeric’s high curcumin content—up to 13 per cent—and said the state is establishing an extraction unit for bio-curcumin tablets.
He highlighted bamboo-based biochar initiatives under the Green Meghalaya programme to improve soil health in acidic terrain.
APEDA Chairman Abhishek Dev said Meghalaya has strong export potential and stressed the need for close coordination with state governments for effective last-mile connectivity in the organic value chain. He underlined efforts to maintain credibility in organic certification through the updated 8th edition of the National Programme for Organic Production.
IFOAM Asia Executive Director Jennifer Chang said the organisation’s work in India and South Asia had reached an important point. She referred to a field visit to a Khasi Mandarin farm, noting that the region’s biodiversity and traditional practices make it ‘organic by default.’
Adviser Brendan Hoare said the organic movement is a collective effort and urged sustained cooperation to influence policy and markets.
Dignitaries later opened an exhibition showcasing certified organic produce from FPOs, cooperatives and enterprises from across the Northeast, including a dedicated Meghalaya Organic Pavilion.
A presentation by CRISIL Associate Director Priyanka Uday outlined Meghalaya’s growth in the organic sector, citing organic ginger exports to Dubai reaching 15 MT in the 2019–23 period with a 7 per cent CAGR, rising black pepper sales and market access for GI-tagged mandarins through the Lulu Group.
The day concluded with a buyer-seller meet and a session on regulatory and labelling requirements under NPOP’s new edition. The organic week will continue until December 1.
