SIKKIM-THE GREEN WAY

The green way

 
by  Samudra Gupta Kashyap , Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay :
Indian Express

Sikkim is geographically diverse, with a climate that ranges from subtropical to cold, and with forests and snow-fed rivers. It is known to have landslides and its rocky terrain provides little scope for farming. How, then, will it turn into an organically farmed state by 2015, as the Chief Minister had announced in the Assembly?

In central Pandam village, nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, 70 km away from Gangtok, 45-year-old Tularam Khatora knows it’s possible. Eight years ago, he used to get 120 kg of ginger from his two acres. But over the last two to three years, he has been reaping an yield of over 200 kg.

Currently, Sikkim produces a variety of crops such as paddy, maize and wheat; vegetables such as radish, coriander, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, ginger, chillies and cardamom; and fruits such as pears, banana, guava and oranges. In 2009, the state exported 14.5 tonnes of ginger to Germany at Rs 170 a kg. The previous year, 10 tonnes of ginger was exported to Holland at almost the same price. “Not only has my income increased but the quality of the crop has also improved. Besides ginger, I also grow radish, mustard, carrots and coriander. Their taste is amazing,” says a proud Khatora. Since Sikkim is mountainous, farmers resort to terrace farming where the land is carved out of hills. Slopes are made inward and broom and napier grass are planted along the edges to stop soil erosion.

If switching to biofertilisers and biopesticides has helped Khatora, it has done good for 62,000 others too. The state is slowly turning organic because of a crusade launched against chemicals by Chief Minister Pawan Chamling. He declared the policy in the state assembly in 2003, vowing that the whole state would turn organic by 2015. The same year, he withdrew all subsidies on fertilisers. From 2006, the government stopped lifting its annual quota of fertilisers from the Centre. On August 15, 2010, Sikkim Organic Mission, a separate wing in the agriculture department that has scientists, experts, high officials and field workers, was launched. Of the 1.45 lakh acres of cultivable land in the state, over 20,000 acres have already been certified as fully organic. By August 2013, another 45,000 acres would have gained that status and by September 2014, another 50,000 acres will turn organic. The remaining 30,000 acres will have to get the label by 2015.

Sikkim had been on the green path much before organic farming became a government policy. The hill state is one of the lowest consumers of fertilisers. Its average use of chemical fertilisers is 12 kg a hectare a year while the national average is 90 kg a hectare. “In hilly areas, tree leaves, cattle dung and weeds act as natural manure. They stay on the slopes where terrace farming is done,” says Hoshiar Singh, an official from a private agency that certifies the quality of the land.

Farmers have plunged themselves into the movement. Chhabilal Khatua in Budang village grows radish, mustard, carrots, pears and bananas on his three acres. Ever since he switched to organic manure, his farm yield has increased, he says. “About 12 years ago, if I got a quintal of radish, now I get 1.20 quintals and sometimes even more. The quality is excellent, they have a better shelf life and the taste is excellent,” he says. Nirmala Chhetri of the same village peels bunches of maizes in her courtyard. The peels will be used as cattlefeed. “I cannot say the yield has grown much. The soil will take time to heal. But the quality is very good and it is worth exporting to any foreign country,” she says. “Use of chemical fertilisers will give you instant benefits but in the long run, it will reduce the fertility of the soil and the so-called returns will gradually dwindle.” “We have been visiting farmers in different districts to make them aware of the harmful effects of chemicals and pesticides. We tell them that the more chemicals they use, the faster the microorganisms die, leading to low fertility in the soil,” says Kiran Pradhan, Additional Director, Food Security and Agriculture. He has been travelling across the state, quite like an organic evangelist.

Farmers in the state don’t have to go far to source manure for their crops. Everything is done at home. Mixed with earthworms and weeds, cow dung is stored in vermicompost units. At present, the state has 24,536 vermicompost units and 14,487 cow urine pits. Cow urine mixed with herbs helps tackle the insect menace. “All 62,000 farmers of the state have two cows each which again gives a fillip to the economy as there has been an increase in the volume of dairy products in the state,” says Topchen Lepcha, executive director, Sikkim Organic Mission. In Sikkim, a cow gives about five litres of milk a day. With the demand for organic manure going up, the state agriculture department has set up a bio-fertiliser unit at Rangpo in East Sikkim with an annual production capacity of 150 MT. The department has also formed around 150 Farmers’ Interest Groups, which have a total membership of around 1,750 farmers. The group members also work to market organic products. That the organic mantra is paying dividends can be gauged from the fact that Sikkim is currently producing 45,890 MT of ginger, 3,510 MT of large cardamom, 2,790 MT turmeric, 4,100 MT buckwheat, 3,210 MT urad and 20,110 MT mandarin oranges. This means that there has been a 20 to 25 per cent jump in output when compared to the state’s pre-organic days. While most of the ginger goes out to the all-India market through the nearest transit market at Siliguri, large cardamoms are also going out to the Middle East. Mandarin oranges go to Kolkata and from there to Bangladesh. Organic vegetables and spices are, mostly sold in the local markets.

The state government has taken several measures to achieve its goal. These include awareness campaigns among farmers, setting up livelihood schools where young farmers are trained by experts and scientists, and launching of fully-equipped mobile soil-testing labs in all the four districts of the state.

Organic produce outlets will soon come up in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore, say state officials. Delhi already has an outlet. There are hurdles, of course, of diseases that consume the crops, but nothing that laboratory tests can’t resolve.