FSSAI expects, the Agriculture
Ministry‘s PGS to incentivise more
farmers to grow organic food.
Participatory
Guarantee Scheme (PGS) is a process
of certifying organic products.
It
ensures that their production takes place in accordance with the laid-down
quality standards.
The
certification is in the form of a documented logo or a statement.
The
certified organic food production is still very low. The PGS brings together
peer group of farmers and the costs are low.
According
to PGS-India,
An
Operational Manual for Domestic Organic Certification‘published in 2015.
It
was published by the National Centre of Organic Farming‘, Ghaziabad, under the
Ministry of Agriculture.
PGS is a quality assurance
initiative, operates outside the framework of third-party certification.
According
to a definition formulated by the International Federation of Organic
Agriculture Movements (IFOAM),
PGSs
are ―locally focused quality assurance systems.
It
certifies the producers based on active participation of stakeholders and are built on a foundation of trust, social
networks and knowledge exchange.
IFOAM is a Bonn-based global umbrella
organisation for the organic agriculture movement.
The
pillar of PGS in India is its participatory approach in which peer groups will
appraise the products instead of third-party
inspections.
Mutual
recognition and support between regional PGS groups ensures better networking
for processing and marketing.
It
offers every farmer individual certificates, and the farmer is free to market
his own produce independent of the group.
Individual
farmers or group of farmers smaller than 5 members are not covered under PGS.
They
either have to opt for third party certification or join the existing PGS local group.