New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today approved the formation of three national-level multi-state cooperative societies: Multi-State Cooperative Seed Society, Multi-State Cooperative Organic Society and Multi-State Cooperative Export Society.
Primary to national level cooperatives societies including primary societies, district, state and national level federations, multi-state cooperative societies and Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) can become their member. All these cooperatives will have their elected representatives on the Board of the respective society as per its bye-laws.
The National Society of Organic Products will provide unlimited opportunities to Indian farmers to fulfil the growing demand for organic products in the world. It will manage various activities related to the organic sector by providing certified and authentic organic products. It will help in unlocking the demand and consumption potential of organic products in domestic as well as global markets. This society will also help cooperatives and ultimately their farmer members in getting benefits of the high price of organic products through aggregation, branding and marketing on large scale by facilitating testing and certification at affordable cost. It will act as an umbrella organization or aggregation, procurement, certification, testing, branding and marketing of organic products with support from relevant Union Ministries.
Multi-State Cooperative Seed Society would act as an apex organization for the production, procurement, processing, branding, labelling, packaging, storage, marketing and distribution of quality seeds; strategic research & 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 especially Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and National Seed Corporation (NSC) through their schemes and agencies.
It will help farmers in the production, purchase, branding, packaging and selling of quality seeds and will also help in new research and development. Through this society, arrangements can also be made for the protection of indigenous natural seeds which are getting extinct. The proposed society will help to increase the seed replacement rate, and 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.
Multi-State Cooperative Export Society will help about 8.45 lakh societies in the country to sell their products worldwide, enhance their capabilities and make them a successful commercial enterprises. This will not only increase the income of the farmers but also generate employment opportunities, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said.
It will act as an umbrella organization for the export of surplus goods/services produced by various cooperative societies across the country with support from relevant Union Ministries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that all efforts should be made to leverage the strengths of cooperatives and transform them into successful and vibrant business enterprises to realize the vision of “Sahakar-se-Samriddhi’ as cooperatives hold the key to rural economic transformation in the country in agriculture and allied sectors.
– global bihari bureau
