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| BioFach India 2009 and India Organic Trade Fair The long-standing, good contacts with the International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture, ICCOA, organizer of the IOTF, are bearing fruit: from 18 - 20 November the premiere of BioFach India 2009 will be held parallel to, and in conjunction with the fifth India Organic Trade Fair. The co-organizer of the trade fair duo is the ICCOA. Local players and market experts from all over the world agree: the time has come to offer India's high organic products potential its own platform and provide the Indian market with an even stronger international networking. India's government is supporting the organic products sector with financial packages and funding programmes aimed at rapidly further expanding it. The target by 2012: 2,000,000 hectares of certified organic farming land and organic products sales of one billion US Dollars. Mukesh Gupta, President of the ICCOA, and Petra Wolf, since 01.08.2009 member of management board, NürnbergMesse, agree: the merging of these two experienced partners will not only generate key impulses for the Indian organic products market. Indian exhibitors, international suppliers as well as trade visitors can concentrate on one central organic products trade fair. The sponsor of the BioFach subsidiary in Mumbai is the IFOAM, which in addition to BioFach Nuremberg, is already the honorary sponsor of the four other international subsidiaries of the world's leading trade fair for organic products in Japan, the USA, Brazil and China. In 2008 the parent fair in Nuremberg along with its subsidiaries abroad brought together around 4, 000 exhibitors and approximately 100,000 trade visitors. Indian tradition and culture meet international organic product enjoyment India is endeavouring on several levels to further develop production, further processing and marketing. The government is supporting organic agriculture in 26 federal states with a funding programme, explains Dr. Gouri, head of the organic products sector at the state-run export promotion company APEDA. In addition, a whole series of companies are already intensively further extending their organic products lines and presenting products which are tailored to European and US taste and requirements. The ranges have long since ceased focusing on high-quality raw materials in the foodstuff and textile sectors and are now also servicing the demand for convenience food and made-up products in organic cotton. The state Indian organic product seal meets the high requirements of international organic products markets and is set to receive legal legitimization before the end of this year. However, the best precondition for the future of organic-based agriculture in India is the close linking of the ecological landscape with tradition and culture: hundreds of thousands of peasant farmers maintain this agricultural culture and view modern industrial agriculture and genetic technology with scepticism. Currently almost 90 organic products in 15 different categories are exported, in 2008 sales, according to estimates by APEDA, increased to 100 million US Dollars. From 2005 to 2008 the export value quadrupled. By 2012 the market is expected to grow six to seven times faster than previously and reach the billion-mark, according to the ambitious planning by the National Centre for Organic Farming, NCOF, which is part of the Ministry of Agriculture. The most important export goods include organic cotton, currently accounting for a 25%-share of sales, followed by tea (20%), dry fruits (18%), basmati rice (13%) and honey (10%). BioFach India and India Organic will impress the trade visitors in 2009 with a seminar programme featuring top-ranking speakers and participants. The theme spectrum extends from political guidelines and organic certification through to the current market trend and export conditions for Indian products up to the value-added chain in the organic agriculture sector. Other BioFach dates 2009/2010: * BioFach America, Boston 24–26 September 2009 * BioFach Japan, Tokyo 7–9 October 2009 * BioFach América Latina/Expo Sustentat, São Paulo 28–30 October 2009 * BioFach und Vivaness, Nuremberg 17–20 February 2010 * BioFach China, Shanghai 27–29 May 2010 write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Exhibition News :: home page |