CCFI alleges made-up data on organic farming
BS Reporter/New Delhi 31 Oct 14 | 12:22 AM
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The Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI), the apex body representing the agrochemical
industry in India, has alleged ‘serious official data forgery’ by the commerce and
agriculture ministries on organic farming in India.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, CCFI alleged the data on organic farming
released by National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF) smacked of “deep and
widespread manipulation". In its annual report, the NPOF has cited statistics from the
Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development (APEDA), which comes
under the commerce and industry ministry.
NPOF, a centrally-run scheme under the Union environment ministry, was started in
2004 to encourage and promote development of organic agriculture in India.
According to CCFI, the official data showed that in FY11, 266 hectares (ha) of land was
under organic farming in Delhi, which soared to about 100,000 ha the next year.
However, during this period, organic production fell from 2,172 tonnes to 0.01 tonnes,
CCFI pointed out.
It also questioned the large area under organic farming. “The total geographical area of
Delhi is 148,000 ha. Of this, over 100,000 ha was brought under organic farming,
according to the published data by NPOF. Isn’t this a glaring evidence of data
manipulation?" CCFI said in a press note.
Another observation by the CCFI noted that in three years, the organic production in
Odisha “zoomed from a mere 62,391 tonnes to over 29 million tonnes". It said the
government departments “must explain the magic formula behind this."
The final observation by the industrial body showed that the data for Uttar Pradesh had
“disconnect between area and production" in every financial year.
A questionnaire sent by Business Standard on Thursday afternoon to the National
Centre of Organic Farming, which administers the NPOF scheme and APEDA, did not
elicit any response.
The CCFI asked the Prime Minister for action over the alleged data fudge. "We must
state that what we have given as examples are truly the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
There is a more. It is extremely rare for data fraud to exist without hidden corruption
while managing huge budgeted grants and subsidies. We seek civil and criminal action
besides administrative action against those found guilty," Rajju Shroff, Chairman of
CCFI, wrote in a letter to the Prime Minister
Crop Care Federation questions NPOF data
TOMOJIT BASU
NEW DELHI, OCT. 30:
After taking on foreign-funded NGOs, the Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) now has its
sights set on the Indian Government. In a letter sent to the Prime Minister’s Office dated
October 27, CCFI has sought an investigation into the National Project on Organic Farming
(NPOF) citing data fraud in project reports, particularly in the numbers from Delhi and
Orissa.
Attributing its findings to NPOF annual reports, CCFI questioned the exponential increase in
the area under organic farming coverage in the Capital region. From 266 hectares (ha) in
2010-11, it covered 1,00,239 ha the following year but production dropped from 2,172 tonnes
to 0.01 tonnes. The missive further states, “According to NPOF data, Delhi produced 4,765
tons of organic products in the financial year 2009 and the state of Assam produced 2,329
tons… urban Delhi’s output of organic products was 100% higher than that of Assam… how
to understand all these?”
With regard to Orissa, CCFI doubted the “disconnect between area and production”. In the
numbers from the NPOF report that the body cites, production numbers increased from
62,392 tonnes in 2009 to 29.01 million tonnes (mt) in 2011 while the area under organic
coverage reduced from 92,452 ha to 43,868 ha over the same period. The letter alleges that
the surge in Orissa’s production numbers was reflected in India’s total organic production to
29.6 mt in 2011 from 3.88 mt the previous year.
WILD VARIATION
“This kind of wild variation of data did not raise the eyebrows of the senior officials.
Shocking. Was there any auditing done?” states the letter, a copy of which is with Business
Line, which also alleged that NPOF and the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export
Development Authority (APEDA) had engaged in “data suppression”.
“APEDA website claims that soybeans and soy meal accounted for 70% of the total organic
commodities exported (1.94 lakh tons) from India in the year 2013-14… our preliminary
investigations reveal that the quantum of soy based animal feed exported as “organic” is
much more than what is organically produced and/or certified in India,” the letter reads.
Signed by CCFI Chairman Rajju Shroff, the letter recommended a forensic audit into
NPOF/APEDA “to fully understand the depth of data fraud in implementing organic farm
projects” and sought “civil and criminal action besides administrative action against those
found guilty”.
The NPOF is a Central Sector Scheme since the 10th Five Year Plan and began operations
with an outlay of Rs. 57.04 crore in October 2004. The scheme was continued in the 11th plan
with an outlay of Rs. 101 crore. Implementation of NPOF strategies are managed by an
Organic Farming Cell located in Ghaziabad with six regional centres.
(This article was published on October 30, 2014)