Organic products: New opportunity for SMEs in UP

Several companies and organisations headed by yog gurus and spiritual healers are active in the field. One of the biggest companies in the sector, Aradhya Dev Organic Foods Private Ltd, is now exploring options in UP. The company has its base in Jaipur and Haryana.

The UP government recently announced that it will be promoting organic farming. In the Bundelkhand region, known for poverty and drought, the head of Adhyatmic Jagat Kendra, Swami Harendra Yogi, sees an opportunity.

"In Bundelkhand, the farmers specially the small and marginal ones have not opted for chemical fertilisers instead they stick to organic farming," said Harendra Yogi.

Yogi said on both sides of Betwa in Hamirpur and Banda, the land is fertile and it does not need any chemical support. He is exhorting the farmers in that area to adopt organic farming and has ideas of preparing organic products from their produce.

Citing example of Aradhya Dev Organic Foods, Harendra Yogi said it was started with an investment of Rs 20 crore and this year's production figures will touch Rs 200 crore.

He is associated with the company, being looked after by a former bureaucrat, Mohan Singh Ahluwalia. He said that organic food was in demand in foreign countries and orders were coming every day.

In Jhansi, another SME Kamdhenu Sewa Pariwar is working in this field, which includes educating farmers and buying back organic products and their marketing.

The agriculture minister of UP Chaudhury Laxmi Narayan too has said that government would provide financial assistance to the farmers if they opt for organic farming. He said there was a scheme to provide funds to firms and voluntary organisations in the sector.

Enthused by this, Swami Harendra who till now has been busy in establishing marketing chain of Aradhya Dev Organics, has decided to buy produce from Bundelkhand farmers and start making organic products in UP only.