Going organic, the new mantra in Sikkim

More than 8,000 hectares of land is currently covered under the organic certification of the state due to a strong road map worked out by various government agencies under which sale of chemical fertilisers and pesticides has been completely banned, a state government spokesman said.

"The state government completely stopped the lifting of government of India quota of chemical fertilisers since 2006-2007 and all sales points for chemical fertilisers in public and private sector have been completely closed down," the spokesperson said.

Alternatively, the state government introduced organic farming and promoted large-scale use of bio-fertilisers and provided certified manufactured organic manure to farmers as an alternative to chemical fertilisers.

In order to provide alternatives to farmers, 24,536 rural compost units and 14,487 other compost units were constructed in farmer's field.

According to latest official figures, Sikkim has recorded around 80,000 MT farm production, including 45,890 MT ginger, 3,510 MT large cardamom, 2,790 MT turmeric, 4,100 MT buckwheat, 3,210 MT urad and 20,110 MT mandarin oranges.

"Once the entire state is converted into a fully certified organic state by 2015, then the entire 80,000 MT of farm produce will be organic," the spokesperson said.