Requirements for organic certification of millet production

Organic certification of millet production is only reasonable if done as a market requirement, i.e. there should be a market that demands for it. In such a case, interested farmers should be willing to adopt the general organic production requirements, like no use of synthetic pesticides and synthetic fertilisers, treated and genetically modified seeds as well as other prohibited or not allowed practices specific to the organic standard applicable to the market. In addition, sustainable production practices like soil fertility, and pest and disease management should be observed. In terms of post-harvest handling, comingling of organic millet grain with inconversion and conventional millet should be avoided throughout the handling process. Generally, farmers should be willing to learn and apply new knowledge to find organic solutions to any existing challenges to millet production.

Other considerations include:

• Farmers should have sizeable land to produce millet beyond the household requirement (commercial volumes) in order to be able to cover the extra costs of certification.
• The producers should have access to at least one processing facility (especially for milling and packing), where they can negotiate for preferential treatment of their harvests to minimise contamination. Eventually, as volume of organic millet increases, the producers can acquire their own processing facilities.
• A group of farmers of the same village, with adjacent fields can form a producer organisation of organic producers to minimise the risks of contamination from neighbouring fields. For organic millet, it is also important to avoid any contamination with conventionally grown millet and other substances during processing. All post-harvest equipment used for handling conventional millet should be adequately cleaned before being used on organic millet. It is also very important to use clean sacks that have not been used for synthetic fertilizers or any chemicals, or sufficiently wash them before using them for harvested produce.