It’s not often when Dad says, “I bought some tasty organic bananas!!” And we just react,” Ohh! Organic means no fertilizers, fully natural” Just imagine consuming organic daily!! Well, it’s a blessed experience for all the Sikkimese people.

Defeating 50 other nominated policies, Sikkim won the Gold Award for its State Organic Farming Program (2004) and Sikkim Organic Project (2010), which made it the world's first 100 percent organic state. That's correct – the entire agriculture has been certified organic. Overall, more than 66,000 farming families benefited from the move to 100 percent organic.

Organic farming is considered the farming system closest to the traditional Sikkimese farming method, which is rain-fed with low external inputs. Sikkim's strategy, however, goes far beyond focusing solely on organic production – it also focuses on consumption and expansion of markets, health, education, rural development, and sustainable tourism. Sikkim is thus an excellent model for other Indian states.

The people of Sikkim are now living ten years longer

With its holistic and inclusive approach, Sikkim's transition to a fully organic state has benefited more than 66,000 farmers, going beyond just organic production to include socioeconomic aspects such as consumption and market growth, rural development, and sustainable tourism. This has improved not only the wages but also the life expectancy of the entire population. Sikkimese people lived ten years longer than in 1990 in 2016, and data from the state administration shows the link with balanced organic biodiverse food.

Chief Minister Pawan Chamling declared in 2003 the vision of Sikkim becoming the first organic state in India. In 2010, the state launched the "Organic Project," an action plan that describes the steps to be undertaken to achieve the objective of turning the whole state into organic. The strategy succeeded-Sikkim proclaimed himself the world's first organic state in 2015.

The state government displayed strong political will and coherence in strategy, along with well-defined priorities and implementation plans. The strategy blends compulsory criteria, such as phasing out toxic fertilizers and pesticides, with funding and incentives to create a holistic transformation of the entire Sikkimese food system.

The policy also sought to create a 'clean Sikkim brand' as a way to reach domestic and foreign markets. Sikkim's marketing campaign focuses on particular crops such as cardamom, ginger, bananas, tea, kiwi fruit, passion fruit, and mountain vegetables, owing to their unusual climate and farming culture.

The organic Food policy of Sikkim is praiseworthy and should be adopted by other states too to carve an 'Organic India' soon.