UPSC Prelims 2018 Question:

With reference to organic farming in India,

1. 'The National Programme for Organic Production' (NPOP) is operated under the guidelines and directions of the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
2. 'The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority' (APEDA) functions as the Secretariat for the implementation of NPOP.
3. Sikkim has become India's first fully organic State.
   
   

Which of the statements given above is/are corect?

Explanation:

• Ministry of Commerce & Industries, Government of India is implementing the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) since 2001. The programme involves the accreditation of Certification Bodies, standards for organic production, promotion of organic farming and marketing etc. The NPOP standards have been recognized by European Commission and Switzerland for unprocessed plant products as equivalent to their country standards. 'The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority' (APEDA) functions as the Secretariat for the implementation of NPOP. So, statement 1 is not correct and statement 2 is correct.
  
  
• Sikkim has become India’s first fully organic state by implementing organic practices on around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land. Sikkim won the “Oscar for best policies”, conferred by the Food and Agriculture Organisation for the world’s best policies promoting agroecological and sustainable food systems. So statement 3 is correct.
  
  

Therefore, option (2) is the correct answer.

Subject: Environment | Sustainable Development