The kingdom of Sikkim became part of the Indian nation as late as 1975....

And  yet it is the first state to be declared 100% organic in 2016. What made this possible? Can it be replicated elsewhere? eCoexist took a trip into this magical land to learn and discover and what we saw was enlightening and yet filled with contradictions. Here is what we learnt...

Before the Buddhists came to Sikkim it was inhabited by people who followed the Bonpo religion - an animist shamanist religion which believed that everything had a spirit; they therefore worshipped the heaven, the earth, the sun, the moon, mountains, rivers, thunder, lightning, hail, fog, and even birds and animals. Mountain peaks lakes and rivers continued to be worshipped even today.
Sikkim lies in the biodiversity hotspot North Eastern region of India. Mt Kanchenjunga and the area around was recently declared by UNESCO to be a World Heritage site. Sikkim also has enjoyed privileges as per the terms on which it was annexed by India, maintaining a special status and has recieved abundant funding for development from the Center.

The local government in Sikkim has been dominated by the Sikkim Democratic Front for 22 years with the same Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling. This continuity has no doubt allowed for certain regulations to be implemented and systems to be put into place.

In a talk at the World Sustainable Development Summit, Chamling said," Going totally organic was my genuine dream in 2003, which many scoffed at for being too daring and ingenuous." In Feb 2003 a resolution was passed in the State Legislative Assembly and this came to fruition after 13 years of work when in Dec 2015 Sikkim was declared as the first and only fully organic state in India.
So how did they do it? Here are some of the actions they took to ensure that they achieve this goal
 
1. Starting with awareness campaigns to explain the concept of organic farming
2. They continued with capacity building and training programmes for all stakeholders
3. Stopped the purchase and supply of chemical pesticides and fertilizers and also cancelled subsidies on chemicals
4. Help farmers with conversion into organics
5. Created units for Organic Marketing and Promotion
6. Established center for Excellence for organic farming
7. Set up laboratories for testing and analysis
8. Established accreditation and certification agencies
9. Put up a bio fertilizer production unit
10. Made soil testing mandatory
11. Started production of organic seeds
12. Opened livelihood schools for organic farming
13. Created a State Organic Board for policy decision
and
14. Introduced Organic farming as a subject in school curriculums!
While rice is the staple food grain grown here in terraced paddies, the cash crops that Sikkim is known for are oranges and cardamom. Floriculture is also a large part of the economy.

But we were also curious to know, how did the people feel about this? What is the level of poverty and has the shift to organic helped the farmers or created more challenges for them? How do these strict regulations get implemented on the ground? What do the youth feel about farming and working on the land? What is the role of women in this culture?

Regulations : The number of bans in Sikkim possibly are the largest in the country - complete ban on plastic bags for the last ten years ! Ban on Gutka - ban on styrofoam and thermocol - ban on firecrackers - ban on burning tyres - on killing of wildlife - on polluting rivers - on smoking in public places - the use of pesticide - now working on banning plastic water bottles ... Penalties are in place and strictly imposed for all these. Apparently, policemen roam around in plain clothes to keep a watch on the public - and people watch each other closely too.

Scale: Sikkim is a small state - 7000 sq km in size and a mere 6 lakhs in population - perhaps the small scale of the region allows these changes to be implemented sooner.

Culture: Sikkim does not feel like mainstream India at all - even though it is politically. Women are treated equally, and with respect - they are given freedom at many levels. Soft spoken and gentle in Nature, the Sikkimese are not accustomed to fight. Perhaps this makes it easier to establish and implement regulations on their behavior.

As we traversed the landscape of Sikkim the mountain slopes were dotted with green houses funded by the government. In the strategy adopted by them they have looked at and supported the farmers every step of the way from education training and capacity building, to hand holding during conversion and quality control, accreditation and finally marketing of the produce. We also saw that direct links were established between farmers and consumers cutting down on the middle men and keeping the price affordable.

Every region in India has a unique combination of challenges in the move towards becoming organic, but the fact that Sikkim has actually achieved what it set out to do in the past 13 years is proof of the fact that it is possible. In states like Maharashtra where farmers suicides have continued for decades, much remains to be learnt from the Sikkim experiment.
Swach Bharat Abhiyan in Sikkim : a report by DNA : Watch video
Sikkim Organic Mission : Official website