AGMARK is Agricultural Marketing. It is a certification mark which are employed on agricultural products in India. This certification mark approves that the agricultural products have gone through quality checks and are safe to use. The Directorate supports the products of Marketing and Inspection, a joint venture Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, an agency of the Government of India. The head office of AGMARK is in Haryana, Faridabad.
The term AGMARK was made by joining two words, "AG," which denotes agriculture, and "MARK," which represents certification mark. The bill( Grading and Marking) presented in the parliament of India has mentioned this term under the Agricultural produce Act (1937). Archibald MacDonald Livingstone, Agricultural and Marketing Advisory of the Government of India, created the AGMARK system. Hundreds of his staff members supported him in this. This system aimed at providing benefits to local farmers throughout India, who receive less money for producing their crops from the buyer or dealer. This helped the farmers to know their true worth.
The objective was to provide customers with good quality and unaltered products. This also helped for domestic and export purposes.
The laboratories are spread nationwide and work as testing and certifying centres. The Central AGMARK labs are located in Nagpur, and regional labs are located in 11 cities that are
Mumbai
New Delhi
Chennai
Kolkata
Kanpur
Kochi
Bhopal
Rajkot
Jaipur
Amritsar
Guntur
Till date, around 200+ agricultural commodities are being notified. Some of the crops that are being tested for AGMARK are:
Spices
Ground spices
Ghee
Butter
Vegetable oils
Mustard oil
Honey
Food grains
Wheat flour
Whole flour
Semolina
Gram flour
Soybean seed
jowar
bajra
Bengal gram
ginger
NON-edible oil
Edible oil
animal casings
meat
This boosts the marketing of the products.
As the government provided more subsidies on marked products, farmers get benefited.
People have the assurance that the quality of the product is good and safe to consume.
Advisory
The Directorate of Marketing and Inspection issues the AGMARK certificates.
From the year 1934 to 1941.
For Blended Edible Vegetable Oils and Fat Spread, certification under AGMARK is mandatory.
In the year 1937.