Organic Farming

It is now seven years since Sikkim became the first fully organic state of India. The initial years were euphoric, buoyed by lavish state support for the Organic mission. The recent years have, however, been more sobering. While the Organic Sikkim brand sustains, this major makeover has not delivered on its promise. But it still has potential.

Bhutan couldn’t achieve its goal of becoming a 100% organic country by 2020 despite the best of intention, strong political will and government support. What challenges have prevented Bhutan from achieving its goal and does it still or ever have the chance of achieving the goal?

Sri Lanka is in the midst of arguably the worst economic crisis during its 74-year post-independence era, with its political and social stability strained to almost breaking point. One facet of this crisis is shown in the Sri Lankan agriculture sector, which is trying to recover from the self-inflicted wounds of a misguided policy of overnight conversion to exclusively organic agriculture (EOA). The author analyzes the background that led to such an ambitious, but unrealistic, venture and describes its wide-ranging repercussions, which have put the country’s food security and farmer livelihoods under serious threat.