Sikkim becomes India’s first organic state

Sikkim has become India’s first fully organic state by implementing organic practices on around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land. “We have achieved fully-organic status in the end of December. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally announce this at a sustainable agriculture conference in Gangtok on January 18,” said Sikkim Organic Mission’s executive director Dr Anbalagan.

He said around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land was gradually converted to certified organic land by implementing organic practices and principles as per guidelines laid down in the National Programme for Organic Production.

It was in 2003 when the Pawan Chamling government decided to make Sikkim an organic farming state through a declaration in the legislative assembly. Later the entry of chemical inputs for farmland was restricted and their sale banned. Farmers, therefore, had no option but to go organic. 

Organic cultivation is free of chemical pesticides and chemical fertilisers as it tries to strike a harmonious balance with a complex series of ecosystems.