Sikkim’s journey on becoming the first 100% Organic Farming State
Though we might wish otherwise, progress often starts small and takes time. An organic country and an organic world are inspiring visions for our health, our environment, our climate, and our animals. But to get there, we have to keep taking steps, learning lessons, and celebrating good news and developments as they come.
In a mountainous region in eastern India, Sikkim is now a 100% organic state, with no chemical pesticides or fertilizers and no GMOs.
This matters because it shows that organic food in an entire region is possible. Now, other people in India and throughout the world are learning from Sikkim’s success, and beginning to ask, “Could organic food succeed in other areas, too?”
How it Became?
Although the state has traditionally not been an excessive consumer of pesticides (using 8 to 12 kilos of chemical fertilizers per hectare compared to the national average of 90), getting the whole state to turn organic was a tremendous task. Steps like banning the sale of chemical inputs and strict penalty measures for non-compliance were put in place. Even more crucially, the government bore the cost of having the land certified as organic by accredited agencies for the first three years.
The Sikkim Organic Mission, backed by government funding, supported this initiative by providing seeds and manure, training farmers in organic methods and even sending them outside the state for advanced training. The government initiated further infrastructural measures such as building bio fertilizer units, seed processing units and soil testing labs — enabling the organic cycle to bloom. Farmers have also been facilitated in receiving loans as well as being provided counselling support by the agricultural department. Start-ups like Organic Sikkim have also helped farmers find markets for their produce, eliminating middlemen and resulting in higher profits.
Even India’s budget for 2016–17 introduced various measures to increase crop yields and boost organic farming. These include increasing the area of land to be brought under organic farming to half a million acres and launching a scheme to push sales of organic produce in both domestic and export markets.
Why organic food is important
Organic agriculture is important for our health and the future of our world for many reasons. It’s needed to sustainably feed the world. It carries far fewer toxic pesticide residues, and is grown using no GMOs. It doesn’t poison farm workers or the micro-organisms living in the soil that produce healthy, drought-resistant crops. Organic farming is also better suited to climate change, protects biodiversity, enhances soil fertility, and, to top it off, organic foods are more nutritious and taste better.
But without pesticides and other tools known for producing high-yield agriculture, would organic food really be able to produce enough food to feed people? Many studies from around the world show that organic farms can produce about as much if not more food than conventional farms. It may take several seasons for farmers to learn the new ways and see success, but as the soil and biodiversity recover, yields go up. And in places where most of the world’s hungry live, yield gaps for organic food disappear.
Another problem the world faces is global drought. According to NASA, at 21 of the world’s largest 37 aquifers, water is being taken out faster than it’s being replaced. This is not a sustainable situation.
But could the best way to preserve our water supplies, be with organic farming? Organic soil is better able to hold onto water because it uses organic material. Therefore, plants have more access to water, and they produce more food.
A way to make organic food cheap
Organic food sometimes costs more. But experts say the way to make organic food cheap is to get everybody on board. One entrepreneur in India who has experience in agriculture put it like this:
“What happens ordinarily in organic is that a retailer deals with small quantities from a wide range of farmers. The supply chain is broken and disorganized. This adds to the cost of produce.
When a state is 100% organic, then the costs that go into segregating, packaging, labelling, and differential pricing, are saved. When everything is organic, the price automatically falls.”
How Sikkim is benefitting from becoming an organic state
Sikkim’s transition to an organic state is good for public health and the environment in the area. It’s also good for the economy. Tourism to the area is also increasing and bringing in more money. Guests can stay in organic villages, where they are able to enjoy the abundant natural beauty and eat fresh, organic meals.
Sikkim organic retail stores offering pulses, rice, mandarin oranges, ginger, cardamom, and turmeric have been set up by the government in New Delhi. More stores are planned for other major cities. Due to the surge in demand for Sikkim’s organic produce, farmers are now earning 20%more.
How Sikkim’s achievement affects the world
India is a place with high rates of pesticide use. As a result, it is a nation tragically marked by very high rates of farmer suicides; of children dying from pesticide-laced school lunches; and of trains of people with pesticide-related cancer. But Sikkim can serve as a model to help other states go organic.
Already, this is happening.
One of the goals behind Sikkim’s Organic Festival in January was to spread the message of organic movement to other states.
The prime minister encouraged other states in India to follow Sikkim’s example. He invited them to try organic farming and see what happens.
“If the experiment succeeds,” he said. “Farmers in other places will follow it on their own. Farmers may not be influenced by any amount of lectures by scientists…For them, seeing believes.”
Indian states, including Kerala, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh are already working towards becoming organic. And in a country where pesticides are still in use that have been banned in more than 67 countries, any increase in organic farming will make a positive difference.
Of course, the growth of organic farming is needed not only in India but throughout the world. Gratefully, Sikkim is not the only place seeing success with organic food. For example, in Cuba, large-scale organic farming exists, although it began out of necessity, due to a trade embargo with other nations. Denmark has ambitious plans to become an organic country. And a growing number of farms in the U.S. are organic success stories.
Organic food sales in the U.S. have been increasing every year since the 1990s, and the trend is continuing. In 2015, organic food sales in the U.S. neared an estimated $37 billion, up 12% from the previous year. And when even more people demand organic food, more farmers will produce it, and prices will go down.
If we want a world with less toxic food, a world that is safer for our health, our environment, and our climate, we have a lot more progress to achieve. And everyone can play a role if you choose to take action and support organic. Whether you’re a farmer or a consumer, you can make a difference.
As the Indian prime minister said: “Sikkim has shown the way and what we are seeing today is the result of tremendous hard work and belief in an idea.”
Increasing organic agriculture around the world won’t be easy. But it will be worth it.
