After the grand success of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s ambitious One District One Product (ODOP) scheme, the state government, with the aim to provide wider recognition to local goods, will bestow GI tags on major delicacies of Uttar Pradesh such as Mathura’s ‘peda’, Agra’s ‘petha’, Kanpur’s ‘sattu’ and ‘bukunu’, among others.
The state’s Agricultural Marketing and Agriculture Foreign Trade department has ramped up preparations to provide GI tags to special delicacies of Uttar Pradesh representing different districts.
Applications have already been submitted seeking GI tags for agricultural and processed products like ‘Chausa’ mango, ‘Banarasi paan’ of Varanasi, ‘imarti of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh and the registration process is in the final stage.
A total of 36 products of the state, including six related to agriculture, have been given GI tags. At the same time, a total of 420 products of India are registered under GI tag, out of which 128 products are related to agriculture.
On behalf of the Agricultural Marketing and Agriculture Foreign Trade department, a presentation was made on the possibilities regarding agricultural products of the state in the geographical indication webinar on the topic 'Invaluable Treasure of Incredible India' before Chief Secretary DS Mishra.
Additional Chief Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi gave information about the benefits and importance of agricultural products with GI tags. At present, six products of Uttar Pradesh registered with GI tag include Allahabadi Surkha guava, Malihabadi Dussehri mango, Gorakhpur-Basti and Devipatan’s Kala Namak rice, western UP’s Basmati rice, Baghpat's Rataul mango and Mahoba's Desawar paan (betel leaf).
There are about 15 agricultural and processed products whose registration process for GI tagging is almost in the final stage. They include Varanasi's Langra mango, Bundelkhand's Kathia wheat, Pratapgarh’s amla, Varanasi’s lal peda, Varanasi’s red stuffed chilli, Gaurjeet mango of UP, Chiraigaon karonda of Varanasi, Chaunsa mango of west UP, Adam Cheeni rice of Purvanchal, Banarasi paan, Varanasi’s thandai, Jaunpur’s imarti, Muzaffarnagar’s gur, Varanasi’s tirangi barfi and Ramnagar’s bhanta.
Moreover, the potential agricultural and processed products that have been mentioned for GI tagging include Malwan’s peda, Mathura’s peda, Fatehpur Sikri's namak khatai, Agra's petha, Aligarh's chamcham sweets, Kanpur Nagar's sattu and buknu, Pratapgarh’s murabba, Maigalganj's rasgulla, Sandila's laddu and Balrampur's Tinni rice.
Apart from this, paniyala fruit of Gorakhpur, groundnut, jaggery-sugar, rose of Hathras, jamun of Bithoor, hathi singar (vegetable) of Farrukhabad, Yakuti mango of Barabanki, green chili of Ambedkarnagar, maize of Gonda, sawa kodon of Sonbhadra, Katariya wheat of Bulandshahr, Jaunpur’s maize, arhar of Bundelkhand are also included. The list also features products like Lucknow's revdi, Safeda mango, Sitapur's groundnut, Ballia's Sathi rice, Saharanpur's desi til, and Jaunpur’s radish. Due to the efforts of the government, soon these products will be proposed for GI tag nomination.
The GI tag provides legal protection to an agricultural product found in a region. Unauthorised use of agricultural products can be curbed by GI tag as it increases the importance of agricultural products produced in a particular geographical area. GI tag is treated as a trademark in the international market. It promotes exports, as well as increases local income and by identifying specific agricultural products, it is easy to export and promote them in India as well as in the international market.
