
On June 20, 2016, Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) organized a seminar in Aizwal on the theme ‘North East as an Organic Hub’. The seminar was organized in associating with in association with National Horticulture Board, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and was supported by Ecocert. Mr. Ishantor Sobhapandit, Regional Director, North East, Indian Chamber of Commerce welcomed all the guests and discussed Mizoram’s potential to become a hundred percent organic state.
Mr. Sobhapandit stressed upon the need to adopt of new technologies and focusing on the improvement of infrastructure at the ram level. He also stated how beneficial the Organic Farming Act introduced by the Mizoram in 2004 has been in taking the state forward in this direction. He said the fact that Mizoram border both Myanmar and Bangladesh put it in an advantageous strategic location which easily provides it access to foreign markets for the organic products it produces. He further added that to make the most of this advantage a value chain will need to be created which will make it easier to move smoothly from farm produce to finished products and thus help increasing the income of the farmers.