The Kaluga region has become a leader in the number of producers of organic products
The Kaluga region took the third place among the regions of RUSSIA where certified organic products are produced. Already 5 local producers have been certified for compliance with organic standards. These are JSC "Moscow-Medynskoe agro-industrial enterprise", LLC "Bogimov cheese factories", LLC "Savinskaya Niva", LLC "Jersey Eco-farm" and the Pervomaisky collective farm. Kaluga agrarians supply these enterprises to the Russian market with dairy and MEAT products, as well as grain mixtures for cattle feed.
The Organic Agriculture Law came into force on January 1, 2020. it enshrines the concept of "organic" and establishes requirements for the production, storage, labeling and sale of such products. Organic products are grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, mineral fertilizers, hormones, agrochemicals, and are stored and transported separately from conventional non-organic products. Enterprises that have confirmed compliance with organic agriculture standards through certification by accredited bodies are entered in the unified state register of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation and receive the right to label products with a special “Organic” sign - a white sheet on a green background.
Regional Minister of Agriculture Leonid Gromov stressed the importance of adopting this regulatory legal act: “The adoption of the law on organic agriculture has created a legal framework for the development of this area of activity, which is becoming more and more in demand. Today, a steady demand for organic products is forming in the Russian food market, which creates conditions for the production of agricultural products with a higher added value. This is a good opportunity, especially for small agricultural businesses, to occupy a market niche that will provide a stable income and the prospect of expanded reproduction.
The first place in the ranking of organic regions is occupied by the Moscow and Yaroslavl regions, where there are 7 organic producers. Voronezh Region and Krasnodar Territory are on the second line, where 6 enterprises are certified.
“The number of farms and enterprises switching to organic farming and production according to organic standards is steadily growing. Already in the third quarter of 2021, the number of organic producers equaled the total number of certified producers for the whole of 2020 - 34 producers. New regions are also emerging - Vladimir Region, Stavropol Territory, Ryazan, Ivanovo, Omsk Region. The Far East began to actively join the certification - from there we received several applications for certification of crop production, animal husbandry and beekeeping at once, ”comments Maxim Protasov, HEAD of Roskachestvo.
In October this year, at the 23rd agro-industrial exhibition Golden Autumn 2021, an organic atlas of Russia was presented, which includes a description of 88 enterprises with a list of organic products they produce. The atlas was developed by the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, the Federation Council and Roskachestvo. Today in Russia there are already more than 90 certified organic producers.
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On the basis of the ANO "Russian Quality System", established by the Government of the Russian Federation, as a national quality institution with the support of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, Rosstandart, the National Competence Center for the Development of Organic and "Green" Products has been established and operates. The center works on the principle of "one stop shop", dealing with standardization, certification, scientific developments, creation of educational modules, promotion of organic products and monitoring of their quality.