Thursday, November 17 2005 12:34 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: India will soon cultivate organic grapes and export them, a top official of International Competence Center for Organic Agriculture (ICCOA) here said.

An MoU to this effect was inked among ICCOA, Government of Maharashtra and its organic grape growers' association for cultivation of organic grape, setting up of organic vinery, marketing of organic wine and table quality organic grapes both in India and abroad, President ICCOA, Ramesh Harve told sources.

The tripartite agreement arrived at ICCOA's first national organic fair, held here recently, will focus on building competencies across the entire value chain, from production, certification, processing and final marketing, he said.

"Successful implementation of this project will open new vistas of export business for the entire country in general", Harve said.

ICCOA has also agreed to join hands with International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) to set up an IFOAM Information Point in Bangalore or Delhi under the name of 'IFOAM India Center for Organic Services'.

ICCOA will host the IFOAM-ICOS and provide all necessary support to enable it to work with the organic network in India, Harve said.

Jointly with Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland (FiBL), ICCOA is developing an organic cotton programme for India, "Most likely, in partnership with farmers and Government agencies in Karnataka and Maharashtra", Harve said.

ICCOA will also focus on launching of pilot projects on Indian organic market development.

As yet another step towards building institutional capacities for organic markets within the country, ICCOA has identified six enterprises as partners, he said.

The four-day national fair earlier this month also saw the launching of country's first organic business directory.

The fair, 'India Organic 2005', witnessed the participation of 450 delegates including 40 from Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, USA, Canada, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

The trade meet organized by ICCOA along with Government of Karnataka and Government of India through Agricultural Processed Foods Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), was supported by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO) and IFOAM.

ICCOA, established in 2003, caters to the needs of all stakeholders of organic agriculture including farmers, farmers' organizations, NGOs and certifying agencies.