International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)

ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-8 Issue-5, January 2020

Importance of Organic Farming in Economy with

Special Reference to Sikkim
Udeshna Buragohain

Abstract: Ever wondered why people aren’t healthy as they Organic farming relies on ecologically formed practices like
use to be these days and why the generation is facing new health cultural and biological pest management and brush aside the
problems? Manmade chemicals cause the environment to get use of manmade chemicals in crop and animal production
poisoned and everybody’s health is at risk? How we went from a and also ignores the use of antibiotics and hormones in
healthy nation to a sick nation? This is because of three dangers
livestock production. In this process the fundamental and
that threaten our food security i.e, chemical fertilizers, pesticide
and genetically modified crops. The government invest the natural components such as soil organism activities, nutrient
collected taxes to subsidies these chemical fertilizers. In the year cycling, and species distribution and competition, are used
2009, the government spent 98000 crore rupees on subsidizing as farm management tools.
chemical fertilizers. Although the fertilizers provide food for the
plant they are unhealthy for them as they are artificially II. OBJECTIVE
produced. It also percolates and gets mixed with the ground
water. Along with chemical fertilizers the farmers also uses ● To study the growing importance of organic
chemical pesticides. This pesticide not only kills specific pest but farming in this era.
also many friendly organisms. People are getting health ● To study the benefits of organic farming in
conscious these days. They are ready to pay a premium price for
economic development.
good chemical free products. Organic products have the quality
of satisfying the wants of this era.
In this paper I tried to study the importance of organic farming III. EXISTING LITERATURE
in this growing population and how can it be a tool of economic
development. I have based the study of organic farming on As per the definition by United State Department of
Sikkim as this Agriculture study team on organic farming “It is a system
Keywords: state is recognized as the first organic state in the which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetic inputs
world and is awarded the Oscar for best policies. and to the maximum extent feasible relies upon crop
rotations, crop residues, animal manures, off-farm organic
I. INTRODUCTION waste, mineral grade rock additives and the biological
The concepts can be traced back to the early 1900s and the system of nutrient mobilization and plant protection”.
concept was introduced by F.H. King, Sir Albert Singh and Padey (2012) have found that the growth of
Howard and Rudolf Steiner. They were of the thought that organic farming in India is comparatively slower cause of
practicing crop rotation, biologically based pest controls and numerous constrain like inaccessible organic supplements,
animal manure cover crops resulted relatively better farming organic fertilizers, market opportunities etc. The effects can
system. The modern concept of organic farming merges the be mostly seen in the small farm holder adopting organic
tradition, innovation and science. Organic farming is and farming.
agricultural producing system which promotes sustainable A.K Barik (2017), organic farming plays as a input output
use resources and bring natural balance in the environment.
function envisaged a natural process. The present status of
It tries to enhance agricultural health that includes
organic farming in India is in a emerging uniqueness as it
biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological health. It
avoids the use of herbicide, chemical fertilizers, insecticides attempts to produce products ranging from edible to organic
and fungicides. This farming focuses on enrichment of soil cotton and fiber etc. a case study with IRF organic package
rather than nurturing the plant and is based on the concept of practice has been conducted to overcome the
“Feed the soil not the plant” and aims for human welfare. It technological breakthrough and provide an accessible and
is the combination of tradition, innovation and science to better future of organic farming in India.
benefit the quality of life and environment. In the year 2002 Gupta (2013) studied on Horticulture and organic farming
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and highlighted the issues regarding the performance of
established National Organic Program (NOP), to implement, organic farming in Madhya Pradesh, India. It shows that the
develop and administer standard production, handling, and state is producing main organic crops by increasing total
labeling practices for organic agricultural products. area under organic cultivation and horticulture is the fastest
growing sector in agriculture. Even though, development of
Manuscript published on January 30, 2020. agriculture is still a critical factor in the overall performance
* Correspondence Author of the state. The state requires chemical free, low cost
Udeshna Buragohain*, Research Scholar, M.Phil (Department Of product and horticulture production and improvement in
Economics) Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh Assam, 786004
education of farmers to enhance the productivity.
© The Authors. Published by Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and
Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the
CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
nd/4.0/)

Retrieval Number: D9710118419/2020©BEIESP

DOI:10.35940/ijrte.D9710.018520 Published By:
Journal Website: www.ijrte.org Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
3635 & Sciences Publication
 Importance of Organic Farming in Economy with Special Reference to Sikkim

IV. METHODOLOGY also helps in providing pesticide residue free food reducing
the pollution and also generates employment.
The data collected here is from secondary sources. Different
newspapers, magazines, websites, research articles and book ORGANIC FARMING IN INDIA
have been studies to find out about the topic. The findings
and conclusion is drawn from the empirical evidences. The advent of green revolution in India in the early 1960s
led to an overwhelming increase in the agricultural
METHODS OF ORGANIC FARMING production in the country, due to use of large scale of
There are various methods by which organic farming is chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This however proved to
be harmful in the long run, the need to rejuvenate the
practiced:
yielding farming scenario became the need of the era and
1. Crop Diversity: In this technique a variety of crops are the alternative was to go organic. India has 1.5 million
cultivated simultaneously. It helps in increasing the hectares of organic farmland in 2016, later added 0.3 million
production to meet the rising demand of crops. hectares in the same year. According to World of Organic
Previously, Monoculture was practiced where only one Agriculture Report 2018, India produces 30% of total
variety of crop was cultivated but now it has shifted to organic production but accounts only 2.59% of total
polyculture. cultivation area. It has about 835,000 certified producers. It
2. Soil Management: The method starts the use of natural was observed that the production of the organic products
process to treat and enhance the health of soil. It aims at and the cultivation area has been continuously increasing
the use of bacteria present in animal’s waste increasing over years. The data was being collected by Research
soil nutrients. Institute of Organic Agriculture, State of Sustainable
3. Green manure and Compost: The recycling of organic Initiative and International trade Center. The increase in
organism and plants into fertilizers and act as a nutrient organic cultivation is the result of the entrepreneurs
for the soil and helps in increasing its fertility. advocating organic farming and also due to the awareness
4. Weed Management: It is also known as mechanical among the people.
cultivation. Organic agriculture focuses on reducing the
unwanted plant rather than uprooting. There are
generally five methods of weed control i.e. preventative
weed control, chemical weed control, cultural weed
control, biological weed control, mechanical weed
control.
5. Biological pest control: There are useful as well as
harmful organisms in the agricultural farm which affect
the field. The growth of these organisms needs to be
controlled and it is done by the use of herbicides and
pesticides that contain less chemicals or are natural.
Proper sanitization of the farm can be maintained to
control other organisms.
6. Livestock: Motivate the use of domestic animals to
increase the sustainability of the farm.

IMPORTANCE
Organic farming is getting importance when people are
polluting the soil and environment with harmful chemicals
and pesticides. Organic farming provides the option of
enriching the soil with organic compost and preventing soil
from chemicals. Soil is origin for many food crops, hence
the food we get from organic soils are good for health as
well. Organic farming helps in sustainable rural
environment, sound health of soil and creating ecological
balance etc. In Indian context this kind of agricultural
practice can be traced back to decades.
The organic agriculture has a greater scope of minimizing MARKET OPPORTUNITIES IN INDIA
all forms of pollutants and brings sustainability. This
practice gives a very low adverse effect in the economy; it o Indian organic mangoes have high demand in
also helps in conservation of biodiversity. The exposure of Netherland, UK and Germany, so export will bring good
toxic material to human, animals and the environment can amount of income in India.
be reduced. Sustainable agriculture can contribute o There are three major pineapple importing countries i.e
significantly to rural vitality by increasing the number of US, EU, Japan. Therefore India also have the
farms follow such practices; double the income of the family opportunity to export pineapple.
as comparing with conventional practices. It is very cost
effective and bring premium return on organic products. It

Retrieval Number: D9710118419/2020©BEIESP

DOI:10.35940/ijrte.D9710.018520 Published By:
Journal Website: www.ijrte.org Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
3636 & Sciences Publication
 International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)
ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-8 Issue-5, January 2020

o India can aim at the organic banana market giving As a marketing strategy, organic retail outlet was opened at
attention to the geographically closer Japanese market Greater Kailash market, New Delhi. Internationally, the
and the EU state has showcasing its organically grown products at
o The Indian market of organic vegetable can be expanded various international fairs in European countries. The state
in the EU, Australia, and Singapore stopped import of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, for
o EU, UK and Netherlands has an increasing demand for these organic regulatory inspectors were posted at various
organic grapes as there is an increase in the consumption check post.
of organic wine, thereby giving India the opportunity of Sikkim’s organic journey went by three different phrases, i.e
targeting these countries for exporting grapes. the foundation, preparation and implementation starting
o European Commission have granted “equivalence” from 2003 to 2015. It is world’s first 100% organic state and
status to Indian organic certifying agencies. Indian has won Oscar for its best policies conferred by the food and
organic tea producers can expand their markets in agriculture organization for world’s best policies promoting
Europe as it is one of the leading tea consuming regions. agro-ecological and sustainable food system. It won Future
Organic agriculture producers have the ability to assemble Policy Award 2018 beating 51 nominations from 25
community resources for the development of the locality, different countries.
including livelier assist in local government and the creation In the years Sikkim made transformational shift from using
of new community economic development structures and chemicals and pesticides to imposing complete ban on them.
new businesses. In January 2016, Narendra Modi declared Sikkim as India’s
In the year 2017-18 India exported a total volume of 4.58 first fully organic state and now the efforts of the North-
lakh MT. The total earning from organic product was Eastern state towards achieving sustainable goals have been
around Rs. 3453.48 crore (515.44 million US Dollar). The rewarded by the United Nations.
countries that import organic food from India are Canada, Transformation stages to 100% Organic State
Japan, USA, Switzerland, Vietnam, European Union, ● 2003: adopted resolution to switch to organic farming
Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, Israel etc. ● It will ensure fertility of the soil, protect environment
According to export value realization Oilseeds has highest and maintain ecological balance.
realizing amount (47.6%) followed by Cereals and millets ● Healthy living and decreasing the risk of health issues
(10.4%), Plantation products i.e., Tea and Coffee (8.96%), ● Discontinue the practice of using chemical fertilizers and
Dry fruits (8.88%), Spices and condiments (7.76%) and pesticides
others. ● Total ban on the sale and use of chemical pesticides in
the state
SIKKIM’S ORGANIC FARMING POLICIES
● Stopped the imports of chemical fertilizers
“Sikkim” nestled in the lap of Himalaya and is the home of ● Use organic manure
the mighty mount Kanchenjunga became India’s first ● 2010: launched Sikkim Organic Mission to fastrack the
organic state. It has geographical area of 7096sq km and a journey. This mission provided seeds and manure and
population of over 6 lakhs, the state is rich in natural trained the farmers in using organic methods.
resources and a biodiversity hotspot. With only 11% of total
area of land for cultivation and difficult terrain and lack of The transition to an organic state benefited over 66,000
assured irrigation, the farmers of Sikkim practice integrated family in the state bringing about rural development and
farming system with mix cropping under rain fed condition. sustainable living. Besides proving transformational for
The state decided to adopt organic farming in 2003 to public health and environment, organic farming is also
ensure availability of healthy food grains and veggies to the attracting large number of tourist to see its lush green farms,
people. Apart from these long term advantages in the form pure and organic agro products and meal made out of fresh
of conservation and protection of local environment, produce.
enrichment of biodiversity, improvement of soil fertility, In 2015-2017 the number of tourist in Sikkim went up by
protection of flora and fauna, balanced ecology and more 50%.
rewarding farming practices inspired the state to go organic.
Initially the framers of the state were not ready and reluctant CHALLENGES
to make the switch to organic farming. Many workshops, Despite development in the field, it is surprising that organic
massive awareness and training programs were organized farming has not yet managed to enter the agricultural
across the state to make them understand the long term mainstream. Switch to organic farming methods is not easy
benefits of organic farming. Farmers adopted bio villages task and the farmers are not receiving the expected premium
were trained to produce bio manure using various available amount for their products.
technologies such as rural composting, vermin composting,
EM composting and bio dynamic. Farmers were trained and ● A very low production to meet 276 million tons of food
encouraged to prepare bio pesticides, insecticides and grain.
fungicides using locally available plants of medicinal value ● Lack of marketing issue is one of the major issues.
and cow urine. The creation of automated green houses for ● There is no policy for encouraging the spirit of farmers
production of quality plant material gave further boost to the for promoting organic agriculture
organic movement. ● Excessive use of pesticides, chemicals to get rid of
Sikkim Organic Mission was launched on 15th Aug, 2010 to weeds have made the pest and weeds
execute the programs of organic farming and certification
process in a mission mode and in a stipulated period of time.

Retrieval Number: D9710118419/2020©BEIESP

DOI:10.35940/ijrte.D9710.018520 Published By:
Journal Website: www.ijrte.org Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
3637 & Sciences Publication
 Importance of Organic Farming in Economy with Special Reference to Sikkim

● During the transition period farmers face low AUTHORS PROFILE

productivity as organic farming prohibits use of Udeshna Buragohain, daughter of Sarat Ch.
synthetic pesticides, farmers face severe pest attack. Buragohain and Puspa Gogoi Buragohain. A resident
● Lack of suitable infrastructure and lack of cold storage of Sarupathar Town, District: Golaghat, Assam,
facilities organic products gets damaged as it is mostly 78601, India. Currently pursuing M.Phil from
perishable. Dibrugarh University. Completed Master’s in
● Non organizing awareness and proper guidelines for the Economics from Fergusson College, Pune, under
Savitribai Phule University (2016-2018). Published a paper on Islamic
interested farmers. Economics in ISSN UGC research Journal Ajanta (April – June 2019).
● Organic products are expensive due to high labor cost Qualified NTA NET in June 2019. Believing in hard work, preparation and
and low yields and hence the consumers are discouraged learning from failure is the only way to success.
to buy them.
● Unable to supply the export demand.
The challenges first have to be overcome for successfully
implementing the organic mission.

V. RESULT & ANALYSIS

There can be seen a positive relation between organic
farming and development as clearly improvement of
Sikkim’s rural area and standard of living could be seen.
Indian markets have shown a rise in export of organic
product bringing home more of foreign exchange which
leads to prosperity of the country including health and
hygiene. Although there is increase in the organic farming
and people are getting aware of it still there are drawbacks
due to which farmers find conventional methods easier and
the consumer finds organic products to be expensive.

VI. RECOMMENDATION & CONCLUSION

Different policies and aid should be initiated and further
research should be done and effort in these areas is required,
with much depending on the relevance of current research.
Policy makers need to invest in program and policy
modifications for promotion of organic farming. As there is
increase in the population, the demand for food grains is
also increasing. Keeping in mind the increasing demand,
downfall of the natural resources, excess use of manmade
chemicals and the health of the people it would be better if
the farmers adopt integrated production process where both
chemicals and non-chemical production process is mixed.

REFERENCE
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Retrieval Number: D9710118419/2020©BEIESP

DOI:10.35940/ijrte.D9710.018520 Published By:
Journal Website: www.ijrte.org Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
3638 & Sciences Publication