Nagaland Organic Konnect promotes Participatory Guarantee System

January 25, 2023 47 Views No Comment

Morung Express News
Dimapur | January 25

With the aim to connect farmers, entrepreneurs, buyers and consumers in an integrated system and promote better cooperation among them, a two-day awareness and training of Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) was launched at Hotel Acacia, Dimapur on January 24.

Organised by Nagaland Organic Konnect (NOK) in collaboration with Participatory Guarantee Systems Organic Certification (PGSOC) and sponsored by the State Department of Agriculture, the event will witness the participation of over 100 farmers and youth entrepreneurs from Dimapur, Chümoukedima and Niuland.

“It aims at creating awareness about what is PGS; for farmers to certify their organic farms and to provide an alternative route for them to get certification,” explained Abokali Jimomi, Executive Member of NOK.

“This is a kickoff programme where farmers, entrepreneurs and consumers learn how to do the PGS certification by themselves,” she added. It involves undertaking certain procedures and activities that they needed to undertake which will be taught by the event’s organisers. The procedures include ways to produce safe and nutritious foods for the consumers as well as learning new ways to inculcate sustainable farming methods.

“PGS is a global movement where several countries have already adopted it on top of which it is low cost and community centric,” she added. The event will feature an introduction to PGS, global and national scenario, elements and features of it, ways to implement PGS in Nagaland, documenting and data collection etc.

At the introductory session, Vishala Padmanabhan, Executive Director of PGSOC India, noted the flexibility of the PGS model and its scope for inclusive participation of all stakeholders in its system.

“We aim to implement responsible farming methods and provide safe foods to customers at the local markets,” she said.

Padmanabhan also noted that as far as Northeast India is concerned the region hadn’t been severely exposed to chemicals through processed foods which were commendable. The region has considerable natural resources along with a pristine environment, so there considerable scope for highlighting these ecosystems to the rest of India, she opined.

Jennifer Chang, Executive Director, IFOAM Organics Asia and ALGOA meanwhile presented a comprehensive review of the organisation and the role it has played in bringing thousands under the PGS system. The organization has members across 33 countries including in North Korea.