Question : Organic Farming in Sikkim

(a) the details of schemes under which the State of Sikkim has become the organic farming State;

(b) the number of farmers covered under the scheme and the incentive plan of budgetary allocation for the same during the last three years;

(c) the details of the scheme formulated by the Government to provide benefit to the farmers under the produce formula;

(d) whether there is a difference in the prices of organic produce when compared to that of non-organic produce and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefore; and

(e) whether the Government is trying to promote and support organic farming and its marketing to reduce the prices of organic produce, if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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(a) to (b) & (e) The state of Sikkim has become Organic in January 2016 with the support of National Project of Organic Farming (NPOF) under NMSA and state run scheme, “Sikkim Organic Mission (SOM)”.

SOM was launched in 2010 with a clear road map of converting the entire state into organic. The programme had several initiatives in the area of organic certification, consumer education and market development including local organic outlets.

Government of India has been promoting Organic farming through Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER) for NE States including Sikkim since 2015-16 to develop domestic and export markets for organic produce. The scheme stress on end to end support to organic farmers’ through value chain development i.e. from production to certification and marketing. Financial support is provided under the scheme to the farmers for inputs, certification, post-harvest infrastructure creation and value addition including marketing and branding, The details of financial support provided is as under :

• Inputs: Rs. 25000/ha/3 years
• Collection, aggregation, grading unit: Rs. Up to 11.25 lakh
• Integrated Processing unit: up to Rs. 600 lakh
• Integrated Pack house: up to Rs 37.50 lakh
• Refrigerated vehicle: up to Rs 18.75 lakh
• Pre-cooling, cold stores, ripening chambers: Rs up to 18.75 lakh
• Transportation / 4 wheeler up to Rs 6.00 lakh

The number of registered farmers under organic certification in the state is 65,973where as under MOVCNER, 13,444 number of farmers have been brought under organic farming until 2020.An amount of Rs. 78859lakh has been released to the State under the MOVCDNER scheme.
Government also launched a dedicated web portal- www.Jaivikkheti.in/. online marketing platform for sale of organic products across the country.

(c) Government of Sikkim formulated and launched Production Incentive Scheme (PIS) on 25th December 2020 to motivate farmers and boost production of buckwheat, turmeric, ginger, large cardamom and orange by providing incentives to growers who sale their products through registered Institutes like Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) , Sikkim State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation ltd. (SIMFED) etc.

(d) Certified organic produce gets premium price in the domestic and international market in comparison to conventional produce due to its purity.
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