The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment stated that it encourages farmers to increase organic production, without interfering with the choice of the quality of products, because this falls within the market requirements in terms of supply and demand, which is left to farmers, and the ministry is working with farmers to maximize the quality of the Emirati product to be a good competitor in market.
The assistant undersecretary for the regions sector, the acting assistant undersecretary for the food diversity sector, Sultan Alwan, told «Emirates Today» that the volume of sales of local organic products in three outlets exceeded 40 million dirhams during 2019, and is expected to increase in the future, and the cultivated varieties increased Over 70 varieties, most notably tomatoes and peppers of all kinds, flower, cabbage, cucumber, etc., in addition to animal products, such as eggs and meat. He pointed out that «the main challenge for farmers is marketing, as the ministry has put in place an integrated system to enhance marketing of products, as it issued regulatory legislation that contributes to enhancing its provision, and also the inclusion of organic production requirements within the programs to support production requirements provided to farmers», stressing that the ministry provides all sustainable ways That would contribute to the development of the local organic production sector, to achieve food security and diversity, the preservation of natural resources, and the promotion of agricultural commercial entrepreneurship, including businesses associated with organic production. He added, “The Ministry has developed an integrated legislative system, in line with international standards and practices concerned with organic production in all its phases, whether imported or locally, and at the head of this legislative system comes the Federal Law on Organic Inputs and Products, which regulated practices related to organic products, including Obtaining the logo of organic production, and the mechanism of displaying products on the market, and the legislative system included decisions regarding seeds, fertilizers and pesticides authorized for use in organic production, out of sustainability for organic production in the country. He stated that the Ministry follows the principle of sustainable marketing, by linking farms directly to sales outlets and consumers, and to achieve this the Ministry signed a number of memoranda of understanding with outlets, because the private sector has an important role in implementing the initiatives of government institutions, without interference in setting prices, with the aim of promoting marketing National organic products, which reflected positively on farmers, so that consumers can obtain local products, and throughout the year. Through partnerships with the private sector, important results emerged, which had a direct impact on the local product, the first of which was to increase consumer awareness and knowledge of the local product and its quality, as well as to increase farmer awareness of consumer desires and directions, which helped farmers to shift to qualitative rather than quantitative production. Alwan pointed out that organic production in the country is not limited to agricultural plant production, but also includes animal production and organic food processing facilities, in addition to sales outlets that are concerned with importing organic products.
license
Organic establishment licensing mechanisms require that the farmer or producer submit an application to the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology to switch to organic production for assessment and conformity procedures by the authority, and according to the results of the application’s evaluation and laboratory results if they are acceptable, the farmer is granted an organic production certificate, which shows organic products and a label Emirati organic production.