How did organic farming practices start in India?

According to the 2018 report by the World of Organic Agriculture, India was found to be the home of 30% of the total number of organic producers across the world. However, the country accounts for only 2.59% (1.5 million hectres) of the total area of organic cultivation worldwide, which is 57.8 million hectres.

In 2016, Sikkim was declared the first organic state in India by the Narendra Modi government. In 2018, Sikkim received the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Future Policy Gold Award (Gold Prize) for its achievement in becoming the world’s first completely organic agricultural state, among 51 other nominees from around the world! All farmlands in Sikkim are certified organic. Farming practices in the state have completely done away with synthetic/chemical pesticides & fertilizers, and have completely phased out the usage & sale of the same in the local market. This transition has benefitted over 600,000 farmer families in the state, and has boosted the tourism sector too. Sikkim witnessed 50% growth in its tourism sector from 2014 to 2017, when it began its move to being a complete organic state.

The state’s organic farming journey formally began in 2003, under the Pawan Chamling government. In the same year, the state government introduced a ban on the sale of chemical farming inputs in the market and stopped offering subsidies to farmers aspiring to purchase the same. This forced farmers to turn to organic cultivation. Over the years, this led to a dramatic increase in the number of farms in the state that were worthy of organic certification. As of today, all farms in the state are certified organic.

Looking ahead

The transition of the state to organic farming wasn’t an easy journey (more on that in another article). However, we at Mangal Organics hope that the story of Sikkim encourages more states in India to encourage or if needed enforce organic farming practices as it is very important for not only the environment and the health of the population, but also for the upliftment of the poor farming community, most of which lives in very economically poor conditions. Thank you for reading, and watch this space for more interesting articles on organic farming and its impact on the world.