In 2018, Sikkim CM Pawan Chamling beat 51 other nominees around the world to receive the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Future Policy Gold Award for making SIKKIM world’s first organic state. FAO commended Pawan Chamling for setting a role model for the world. Organic farming provides nutritious food to people and reduces diseases that are borne through pesticide infested vegetables. FAO recognized the Leadership of the State and the Political Will to implement the same by stopping subsidies first. Sikkim's transition helped 66000 farmers families.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa took the courageous step to ban chemical pesticides and push the entire country to organic farming. Naturally, the pesticide lobby have started a vicious negative campaign against Rajapaksa government saying economy will collapse. Chamling when he took the decision faced similar protests from opposition and the pesticides lobby yet he did not back down. He pushed through organic farming thus securing the health of its citizens first.
Several states now are trying to follow Kerala but the funds allocated to National organic mission still are small when compared to the chemical pesticide subsidy program. Though some states set targets, announced grandiose schemes, the fact remains that barring Sikkim, no other state has crossed a quarter of its total area in farming. Uttarakhand has around eighteen percent of its cultivable land area into organic farming. Karnataka has allocated 500 cr towards Organic farming in the state. Union Government says it intends to strengthen its organic farming portal.
India totally has crop area of 199 Million Hectares & spends 70-80000 cr annually on fertilizer subsidies. Compared to that, organic farming budget has not even crossed 1000 cr. It stood at 687 cr in 2020. The Hinterlands use more fertilisers than the hilly regions which are more rain-fed. India has largest share of organic farmers globally yet its land area under organic farming barely touches double digits.
