1. What is Organic Certification?
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.
"Certified Organic" assures that products were produced and/or processed under conditions required by National Standards and/or international standards for Organic Production.
2. How long will it take for my land to be certified organic?
That depends on the history of your operation and your current compliances with certification standards and regulations. It takes two years for annual crops and three years for perennial crops to be certified as organic.
3. Is it possible to certify only part of the farm?
Yes. All certifying bodies will support part certification of a farm. However, they would prefer that the part certification lead to a whole of property certification in due course of time. A part certification means that a farmer can try organic farming on part of the holding without having to commit the whole farm.
There should be a conversion plan for the production area
• The last part of the area in the farm should be converted to organic production in the shortest possible period
• Appropriate measures must be taken by the operator for the separation of the products obtained from organic and non-organic units.
• The conversion plan proposed by the operator should be signed with an undertaking that he/she shall perform all the operations, will accept the sanctions enforced referred to in Section-4 of NPOP document
4. Can I process both organic and conventional foods?
Yes, many processors who have undertaken to have their premises certified organic have continued to produce both conventional and organic lines. Processing organic product imposes some restrictions.organic processing can generally only be carried out as the first production run after a thorough clean down.
5. What are organic standards?
Organic standards are the set of “rules” which, as a registered organic producer, you must follow in order to maintain your certificate which will allow you to sell produce as organic.
6. Are genetically modified organisms (GMOs) used in the production of organic food?
Genetically modified organisms are not allowed in organic farming and certification.
7. Is there any size specification for farm lands to be certified organic?
No, there are no limitations.
8. How long is the organic certificate valid for?
The organic certificate remains valid for one year from the date mentioned on the certificate. Once you have entered in to the certification system, you must apply for annual renewal to maintain your certification status. Who should approve the label before I use it on certified products? Before using the label, the certification body has to approve it for correctness.
9. Who should approve the label before I use it on certified products?
Before using the label, the certification body has to approve it for correctness.
10. What do you mean by a Transaction certificate?
“TRANSACTION CERTIFICATE / TC” is a document issued by a certification body declaring that the specified lot or consignment of goods is derived from production and / or processing system that has been certified.
11. What is the Importance of a TC?
a) As a buyer, he can ensure that genuineness of the bought organic produce is ensured by a third party certification body b) A trader needs to keep this document for every product he purchases and wishes to resell.
12. How are organic manures beneficial in the cultivation of crops?
Organic manures increase the organic matter in the soil. Organic matter in turn releases the plant food in available from for the use of crops. However, organic manures should not be seen only as carriers of plant food. These manures also enable a soil to hold more water and also help to improve the drainage in clay soils. They provide organic acids that help to dissolve soil nutrients and make them available for the plants.
13. How are organic manures differing from fertilizers?
Organic manures have low nutrient content and therefore need to be applied in larger quantities. For example, to get 25 kg of NPK, one will need 600 to 2000 kg of organic manure where as the same amount of NPK can be given by 50 kg of an NPK complex fertilizer. The nutrient content of organic manures is highly variable from place to place, lot to lot, and method of preparation. The composition of fertilizers is almost constant. For example, urea contain 46% N regardless of which factory makes it any where in the world.
14. How much of plant nutrients are provided by organic manures?
Just as different fertilizers contain different amounts of plant nutrients, organic manures are also not alike. Average quality of farmyard manure provides 12 kg nutrients per ton and compost provides 40 kg per ton. Most of the legume green manures provide 20 kg of nitrogen per ton. Each ton of sorghum/rice/maize straw can be expected to add 26 kg of nutrients.