Agriculture sector handles a major part of India’s economy. Cultivation is done in different ways in almost all states. Somewhere paddy, somewhere spices and fruits are mainly cultivated. However, due to increasing demand and supply, the use of organic farming has become very less. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are being used indiscriminately in the fields to increase the yield. Which has adverse effects on the environment and the health of humans, as well as the quality of the products is getting reduced.

Sikkim became the first organic state

To get the country out of such a situation, the central and state governments are promoting organic farming. Many schemes are also being run by the government for organic farming. However, it is not so easy to make farming completely chemical free, as it takes about four to five years to get the benefits from this method. At the same time, amidst these difficulties, the state situated in the mountains, Sikkim has set an example in the world.

introduction of organic farming

At present, no chemicals are used for farming in the state of Sikkim. Organic farming is done by traditional method in terraced fields here. Like other farmers, this journey of organic farming has not been easy for the farmers of Sikkim. In this movement that started in the year 2003, the state government took a pledge to convert the villages into ‘bio-villages’ by adopting the first villages to do organic farming. After this, organic fertilizers were made available to all the farmers there and organic certificates were given for farming.

During this many awareness campaigns were conducted for organic farming. For this, people were given information about organic fertilizers on organic farms, organic schools and door-to-door visits. Along with this, nutritional management, methodology, pest management and laboratories for farming were also started by the state government. Apart from this, many awareness campaigns including acidic soil treatment, and organic packing were conducted to increase the yield potential of the land. However, during this period, the state of Sikkim saw a decrease in both income and production. Nevertheless, the people here maintained their hard work and patience.

Received Oscar Award for Organic Farming

Then came a time when the hard work and patience of the farmers showed their color and in the year 2014, the highest yield was obtained from organic farming. Due to these policies of the state government, the scope of organic farming increased in the state. In the midst of these efforts, Sikkim has declared the first organic state in the year 2016. This step of the state government has benefited 66 thousand farmers, as well as 50% increase in tourism. In the year 2018, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States (FAO) honored Sikkim with the Oscar Award for their best policies. Today Sikkim has become an inspiration for other states of the country. Farmers of other states are also moving towards environmental protection through organic farming by adopting the policies of Sikkim.

Source: Indiatimes

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