India has developed sustainable standards for soybean production, a move that could help farmers improve productivity while enhancing the competitiveness of the processing industry globally. The Indian Standards for Sustainable Soya (ISSS), launched at the soya conclave in Indore this week, It is developed by the Soyabean Processors Association of India (SOPA), the Indian Institute of Soybean Research supported by Solidaridad along with the support of key soya industries and businesses.
It will be the 8TH national sustainability standard across commodities co-created by Solidaridad Network Asia. Solidaridad has supported the development of a similar national soy sustainability standard in China last year.
ISSS is launched with the objectives of defining country-specific sustainability criteria for improving Indian Soya productivity, better socio-economic conditions of farmers and workers, and reducing the ecological footprints. ISSS is also expected to enhance the competitiveness of the Indian soya industries in the global market.
“ISSS has been designed while considering the requirement of Indian soya industry and having scope for alignment with other similar national and international sustainability standards. This would strengthen the role of India in driving sustainability in the global soya market. More importantly, this would address the issues of duplication and efforts needed due to multiple sustainability standards,” said Davish Jain, Chairman, SOPA (The Soybean Processors Association of India)
Under the ISSS, an innovative digital traceability tool is also planned to be introduced with the objective of enhancing the robustness and credibility of ISSS. It would provide a comprehensive traceability solution for a transparent supply chain.
The assessment made with the help of this tool would provide a high degree of assurance to the farmers, soya industries, as well as consumers on social, agronomical, and environmental aspects. “The ISSS will support farmers with better farm management, improve productivity and enable better environmental performance. The adoption of sustainable practices will bridge the yield gap through sustainable crop production and would enhance the domestic availability of edible oils and enhance the livelihood of farmers. This will help stakeholders representing governments, businesses, industries as well as farmers’ associations to participate in a sustainability discourse more actively. This would strengthen the role of India in driving sustainability agenda within the sector,” said Nita Khandekar, Director, IISR.
“Solidaridad with many decades of experience in global and national standard-setting and its implementation, is committed to working with Indian soy industries and the Indian Government to get ISSS recognized by different stakeholders across the world as an effective sustainability standard,” said Shatadru Chattopadhyay, Managing Director, Solidaridad Asia.
The standards would improve the overall performance of soy industries and edible oil security for the country, which is an important step forward towards Atmanirbhar Bharat, said D N Pathak, Executive Director, SOPA.
