Branded Organic Eggs – Kansal Agro Farm Vouching for The Healthiest and Ethical Option Ever!
M/S Kansal & Kansal Agro Farm have launched a revolutionary range of organic and herbal odourless eggs. The eggs coming from an organically and ethically managed poultry farm at Panipat, Haryana have already hit the market.
What is in the shell? An egg, one would say – which is full of proteins, vitamins, minerals, in short, nutrition. But off late, it also comes encapsulated with contamination. Yes. The chicken eggs coming from conventional layer hens could be contaminated with the traces of antibiotics, pesticide, heavy metals, aflatoxins etc. If you are an egg lover this is going to certainly disturb you. And it’s not just the feed of chickens, but the unethical housing and management methods which also are the matter of concern and something which should add to the guilt of consumers.
But is there any option in India which offers one a chance to buy ethically produced eggs which are free of any chemical contamination as well? Yes, Dr M. L. Kansal, technical director of M/S Kansal & Kansal Agro Farm in Haryana offers this choice to ethical and health conscious consumers today!
Approx. 90 Km from Delhi to Panipat, Dr Kansal’s family started poultry farming in the year 1987. The farm is situated 10kms from Panipat towards Karnal (Village-Kohand). Dr. M.L. Kansal who is a Ph.D in Poultry Science and Ex- Professor of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana after retirement decided to work on his long wished invention – Herbal Odourless Eggs!
“That is how and where it started.” Says Dr Kansal, “I was mulling over this idea of subsiding the foul odour of eggs since 1972 which basically prevents many likely egg eaters from consuming them. Also I was getting to read in the scientific journals and popular articles that use of antibiotics in poultry is being banned in many countries because of the increased resistance problems among birds as well as humans. Hence experimenting and setting upon a poultry farm on these lines is something I took up after retirement.” says Dr Kansal.
“There are many poultry farms venturing into branded eggs selling to the organised retail and niche markets in Delhi, NCR and other major cities in the region. But none is thinking of producing the eggs without any hazard associated with it. Having spent my life closely examining conventional farms I realised that there are many grave issues associated with this production system.” says Dr Kansal.
“At present conventionally most egg layers in this country are maintained in cages. Confinement and caging of birds is considered to be beneficial for the birds by many because it keeps the birds away from their dropping and away from disease agents that can cycle through the droppings. But some consumers are philosophically opposed to this type of management system where birds can not express their natural behaviour. They are prevented from foraging for food, nesting, roosting and dust-bathing, scratching, exercising, running, jumping, flying, stretching, wing-flapping, and freely walking. Overall it’s a situation where hens are treated like egg producing machines whose quality of life is so poor that their physical and psychological health is always in an impaired state.” says Naveen Kansal, one of the partners of M/S Kansal & Kansal Agro Farm and son of Dr. M. L. Kansal. “Some farmers off late have started keeping egg layers in the deep-litter system where birds are not caged but still confined in four walls. Free –range system is another step ahead in this direction much closer to natural method of poultry management.” ,says Naveen.
“Besides these welfare issues, the amount of chemicals which secretly enter the system of poultry birds are also a matter of concern. Because end of the day, it is us the consumers who are going to consume the very produce of them. In conventional farms 95% of the feed comes from commercial establishment which heavily rely upon the food grains coming from conventional agriculture carrying all kinds of residues of fungi, fungaltoxin (mycotoxin) pesticides and heavy metals. Again there is no guarantee if the maize or Soya being used in the commercial feed is free from genetic modification. In the conventional poultry farms incidence of disease, illness is also higher. There are some disease producing organisms like salmonella, coli form bacteria and other pathogenic bacteria commonly found in birds and eggs. Hence the hens are fed with higher doses of antibiotics every now and then through feed and water on mass scale. The fresh and pretty looking egg that we consume with utmost delight carries unfortunately the residues of all these chemical toxins and drugs residues as well,” says Ms Sharda Kansal, one of the partners of M/S Kansal & Kansal Agro Farm and wife of Dr M. L. Kansal.
“Here at our farm we integrate the element of traditional system of backyard poultry effectively. Birds in this system have outside access most of the year. Birds would have a significant outside run or runs, and would have roosts for resting. There is enough opportunity to express their normal behaviour. The feed is not allowed to contain any antibiotics or production stimulants nor any meat by-products are allowed. The hens feed is not having any constituent of the animal resources like bone meal, fish meal, etc. The egg is totally free from obnoxious odour. We ensure that feed is sourced from organic farms. Moreover as I was also concerned about the strong odour emitted by an egg which many consumers would find as obnoxious, I worked on the possibility of adding mixture of 16 various herbs to their feed to keep the birds in a better health and to keep the eggs free of odour. The eggs are free from pathogenic bacteria like salmonella, E-coli or any other types of bacteria. These eggs can be consumed in the form of egg drinks in summer to balance our diet which is deficient in protein in summer. That is the reason we brand them as Herbal Odourless Eggs.” Says Dr Kansal whose brainchild this project is and who firmly believes the whole concept as totally novel.
Mr. Jugal Kansal, in charge marketing division said, “At the moment we have launched a revolutionary range of organic eggs in the market – 1) HOAVA Omega-3 egg, 2) Fresh n Delicious Brown egg, 3) Dr. Kansal’s Herbal Odourless egg, 4) Brun egg, 5) Herbal egg, 6) Herbal Brown egg and 7) Farm Fresh egg. Walmart is the major buyer of the eggs. They are paying double the price of conventional eggs. We are committed to make available a choice to health-conscious Indian consumers where they have an access to certified organic eggs which are free from antibiotics, pesticides , aflatoxin residues.”
“These eggs has been tested from TUV SUD South Asia Pvt. Ltd. Salmonella & Coli form Bacteria are tested for their presence by GUDVASU Ludhiana. Our flocks and egg are free from Salmonella also tested by Venky Lab Panchkula. Our organic operations are certified by Ecocert India. As far nutrition, test reports have proved that our organically produced herbal egg carries more nutrition in terms of fats soluble vitamins A, D3, E, and water soluble vitamin B1, B2, B6, Folic acid, B12 etc. and other elements than an ordinary egg and a glass of milk!”
“Consumers also must know that there is lot of effort that goes on to ensure that organic feed is made available from trusted sources and in enough quantities, there is requirement of more land housing space and finally there is extra efforts on maintaining sanitation at all levels and ensuring labor for these activities. All this comes at cost and impacts the retail price. But we are fortunate to have received the dedicated consumer base who appreciate this fact.”, says Mr Jugal.
“Our future brands include very low cholesterol egg in different brands of white & brown egg. The Cholesterol level will be between 70-90 mg per egg. This will certainly revolutionize the Indian retail egg market. We are also confident that it will kick start the movement of organic entrepreneurship and more and more farmers, entrepreneurs will think of ethical ways of producing eggs. says Dr Kansal.” 
Ecocert’s Certification for Small Groups of Farmer Entrepreneurs – A Boon for Domestic Organic Trade
Ecocert India, leading certification organization in organic agriculture, with special vision for domestic market development, has recently launched a fairly charged certification program for small groups of farmer entrepreneurs.
Organized organic agriculture movement, started way back in early 90s in India is well established now. Be it inspired by the Individual organic agricultural reformers spread across the country or the national, international NGOs, or some religious groups who are promoting non-violent organic farming and consumption of chemical free food among devotees, organic farming is something which is known to every Indian farmer. In almost every village one can find organic farmers practicing organic agriculture with devotion, largely in small groups with mutual support of similar peers of who share same ideals.
“It is for these unsung heroes Ecocert thought of launching a certification program; mainly to facilitate their access to soaring domestic organic market in India.”, said Dr Selvam Daniel, Managing Director of Ecocert India. “Usually what we get to see is that these self motivated organic farmers are totally disconnected from the organized organic market in the country. They practice organic out of sheer passion for organic and natural farming remaining isolated from the mainstream. But eventually end up selling their ‘safe’ produce in the local markets or within their health-conscious friends’ circle in low prices. On the other end we get to see the millions of health conscious consumers craving desperately for the authentic organic produce and with no or limited access to that.”
“Where organic food is available in big super markets, it is so highly expensive that consumer prefers continuing to buy the hazardous conventional produce than to buy organic products. Again many a times the most essential claims of independent certification are missing from organic products. Facilitating this bringing together of the right producer and right consumer is a real challenge the organic movement in India at the moment is facing,” says Dr Daniel
“The new scheme is meant for certifying small groups of 25-30 organic farmers in a given village or village development council. Any farmer whose land is less than 4 ha or 10 acres is considered as small farmer and can be a member of the group. Hence ideally around 250 acres of organic land could be brought under third party certification along with a small processing unit for single ingredient product viz. jaggery, ghee, rice, pulses, turmeric or chili powder etc. The certification cost for such groups is Rs 1400 per farmer annually. The costs involved are thus very affordable for getting certified the processed organic products at farm level. “, said Dr Amol Nirban, Business Development Manager of Ecocert India.
But still the question of linking these small groups to trustworthy domestic markets remains an important issue to be addressed.
Communication Strategist of Ecocert India Mr Rahul Motiyele says, “Ecocert India’s representatives are now present in every major part of the country. There they locally participate in every important trade expos, farmer markets, organize retailers’ or agri-entrepreneurs’ conventions. These platforms generate good amount of inquiries from the traders’ side. Few of them could be interested in starting their own retail shops or chains, home delivery program of both raw food and lunch boxes and their own restaurants. While many of the traders are interested in B2C transactions, few are interested in acting as vendors supplying organic produce in bulk to other enterprises and also some organizations viz. old age homes, hospitals, college or school cafeterias etc. Many of these aspiring organic entrepreneurs have no idea from where they could source authentic organic produce. It is at this point Ecocert’s new scheme can make the difference we feel.” Says Motiyele.
These interested organic traders could be encouraged by local Ecocert representatives to directly link with the organic farmers’ small groups for sourcing the required commodities. E.g. a retailer in NOIDA can actually identify a suitable organic farmers’ group or groups in the nearby region with the help of local Ecocert representative and directly share with them the annual cropping calendar of his/her choice with them. It is easier for a retailer from the logistic point of view since such farmers are located in the radius of 5-10 km only and they can provide the organic products of desirable choice in desirable quantities.
“The traders are not required to bear the costs of certification if they don’t wish to, since they are so moderate that even farmers themselves can bear. My frequent discussions with small groups of organic farmers in need of a right buyer have revealed this fact.” says Mr Vijay Deshwal, Ecocert representative for Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. “A mere guarantee of an assured recognized organic market is enough for an enthusiastic organic farmers’ group. Application for their group’s certification is the most obvious step by farmers in such situation.”
“Certification of Organized Grower Groups (OGG) is not a new concept. But we have launched this program for small groups. Small groups always prove to be more efficient when it comes to complying with organic standards thanks to the sheer size of the group which makes mutual interactions, knowledge gain, and peer pressure, peer appraisal etc possible. There is no need to hire an Internal Control System which is comprised of paid workers, from outside. Farmers’ representatives in such a small group can delegate among themselves these responsibilities of internal inspection, field extension officer, purchase officer, input distribution in charge and convener for certification etc. The harmonious atmosphere in the close knit group enables better internal control and smooth functioning.” says Dr Daniel.
“Ecocert has developed working guidelines for effective functioning of these groups. These guidelines conform to National Program of Organic Production. The official advertisement for this scheme is done weekly in Maharashtra through a famous agricultural daily Agrowon. We will repeat the same experiment in other parts of the country, “says Nirban.
“Small groups’ certification, small and direct supply chains and very small burden on the budget of organic farmers as well as the consumers is what characterizes this program! The program will alleviate soon the hurdles in domestic organic market development in India!” opines Nirban
