Social Enterprises Promoting Organic Farming in India
Organic farming revolves around the concept of sustainable farming wherein the crops are grown without the use of pesticides or chemicals. Indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in farming not only proves to be hazardous to human health but also to the soil and its ecosystem. Organic farming is the practice of using compost, manure, green manure and bone meal (a mixture of ground animal bones and slaughterhouse waste products) instead, along-with extensive use of practices like crop rotation and companion planting.
We, at Impactpreneurs, have shortlisted some of the most promising startups from our database that are bringing organic farm produce to our dinner tables.
About: I Say Organic is currently working with 1000 farmers across 12 states of India and is producing 200 organic products together with the farmers. The organization focuses on twin goals of benefiting the consumer with safe eatables and also the farmers who grow these products. They collect fresh farm produce from the farmers in the morning and check the products before delivering the orders to the consumers.
Product/Service: I Say Organic produces a vast range of products from vegetables, fruits, dry produce, oil, ghee, seeds, dry fruits, sweeteners, tea, coffee and other kitchen specials.
About: Suminter India Organics assures 100% Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) free products. Currently, the organization is working with over 20,000 farmers. They also provide organic training and certification to the farmers which enable them to control product quality and pay premiums to farmers going organic. They have integrated all the steps from a sourcing, conversion, monitoring, processing, packaging, quality control, traceability to sales and distribution in their business model.
Product/Service: They strive to be a one-stop shop for organic products in India. Currently, they deal in six different markets; spices and herbs, cane sugar, fibre, oil seeds and animal feed, cereals and nuts.
3. Ecofarms
About: It is an organization which is run by a farmer, Omprakash Mor who over time turned into an entrepreneur. Ecofarms serves happy customers in Europe, the United States and Israel.
Product/Service: The organization adheres to the policy of “no chemicals, purely organic”.The organization also has expertise in producing products like processed food, earth conscious apparel, and medicinal plants and aromatic herbs.
About: SAFS is a Puducherry-based organization which offers products which are certified by Indian Society for Certification of Organic Products (ISCOP) and quality tested by RomVijay Biotech Pvt Ltd (Puducherry).
Product/Service: Following are the products offered by SAFS organic- insect light trap, bio growth promoters, bio fertilizer, bio pesticide, bio fungicide, farming consultancy services, humic acid and verticillium lecanii.
About: Living Greens Organics (LGO) is an urban farming company. LGO aims to make every building in the city a living green building by farming on rooftops and walls of the buildings. LGO has managed to garner a lot of accolades and recognition from platforms like Action for India, The Power of Ideas.
Product/Service: The products and services offered by LGO are rooftop farming, living green walls, bio pesticides, garden mix, pot mixture, grow bags, liquid organic fertilizer, edible green walls, garden care services and farm consultancy.
About: Chetna Organic works with small farmers in the rainfed areas of Maharashtra, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. After researching about the farmers, they realised that farmers are reluctant to shift to organic farming because of the involvement of manual effort. So, Chetna Organic assisted all-women Sri Lakshmi Self Help Group in setting up a unit wherein farmers can hire farm tools thereby reducing their manual effort. Currently, Chetna Organic is working on 16 programmes which revolve around sustainable farming.
Product/Service: Chetna Organic produces oil seeds, cereals, legumes, cotton, wild forest honey and other non-timber forest products (NFTPs).
About: Ulink Organics is a Mumbai-based enterprise which has managed to spread organic farming over 50,000 acres in India. It is the leading manufacturer of organic fertilizers in Mumbai. The products manufactured by Ulink are tested by government agriculture institutes and also by professional laboratories.
Product/Service: The products meet the standards of the organic farming practised in the US and Europe. They have classified their products broadly into two categories; organic inputs and commodities. Under organic inputs, they produce power grow granules, power grow liquid and super sero whereas they offer oil seeds, feeds, spices under commodities.
About: The name Jagriti was given after the Jagriti Yatra (a 9000 km train journey across India). Jagriti employs organic farming techniques because they understand that it is low-cost, environment-friendly and has an increasing demand in the market. Jagriti follows an inclusive business model wherein they focus on three sectors; farm side operations, local collection centre and market side.
Product/Service: They train farmers in organic farming techniques and certify them for the same. They provide farmers with high-quality seeds for farming. Also, they assist farmers in planning the demand-based farming.
About: Daana Network ensures full transparency and traceability by naming every packet after the farmer who has produced that particular packet. Unlike supermarkets, the products generated by Daana Network belong to one particular farm. Hence, offering a “single origin” product. Daana Network’s basic principle is to provide food which is affordable, tasty and healthy.
Product/Service: They offer organic staple food like wheat, rice, pulses etc.
10. Rapid Organic
About: Rapid Organic has 1000 organic certified farmers and has 2000 farmers under training process. They ensure 100% organic products. They work with the farmers on a contract basis. To meet the standard quality, they have two departments which exclusively look after the quality of the products. These departments are Internal Quality System (IQS) and Internal Control System (ICS). IQS monitors and verifies activities to ensure the standard quality whereas ICS maintains the documented quality assurance system which eases the inspection of the organization by the third party.
Product/Service: Rapid Organic manufactures a vast range of organic products from breakfast products to staples to herbs.
