The world has its first fully organic state - and it’s in India 11-12

• The UN ‘Oscar for the Best Policy’ was awarded to the northeastern Indian state of Sikkim.
• This makes Sikkim the 1st fully organic state in the world with its sustainable agricultural policies that are inclusive and comprehensive of all socioeconomic aspects.
• Pawan Kumar Chamling, the state’s Chief Minister, propagated ‘building an organic world together’.

It’s not news that the north-eastern state of Sikkim is a leader in sustainable policies. But, the state’s efforts were finally recognised by the United Nations (UN) garnering the award for having the world’s best food policies or what’s called the ‘Oscar for the Best Policy’. 

The world has its first fully organic state - and it’s in India.
In actuality, Sikkim was already fully organic when 2015 rolled in having started its journey to being sustainable back in 2003. 

According to Maria Helena Semedo, Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Deputy Director, Sikkim’s policies have benefited over 66,000 family farmers. Rather than focusing on food security in isolation, the state’s food policies take socio-economic aspects like tourism, consumption, markets and development into its fold to form a comprehensive and inclusive approach toward agriculture. 

Sikkim’s organic world 

Unlike most regions that turn to sustainability and being organic as a solution once their natural capital in jeopardy, Sikkim’s organic policy came into being because of its treacherous terrain that makes normal farming methods obsolete. 

Going organic was an opportunity utilise land that was currently lying unused. 

Now Sikkim is home to bio-villages that employ effective microorganisms (EM) technology for compost and bio-pesticides. The agricultural fields use vermiculture hatcheries and compost-cum-urine pits for manure production. 

Even the seeds they use are organic, rather than the hybrids that are used in other parts of the country. With the ‘Seed Village Scheme’, Sikkim ensures that it has locally adapted high-quality seeds. And, in order to ensure that those seeds yield the maximum output, the state conducts regular soil health assessments. 

The transformation didn’t happen overnight. And the most important aspect of its success is probably the invention programme that was implemented to raise awareness about organic farming practices among farmers. 

That being said, it’s easier said than done. When Sikkim started on its journey to becoming an organic state in 2003, chemical lobbyists and opposition parties didn’t make it easy. Chamling asserted that it was through strong political commitment and hard work that Sikkim is where it is now. 

In fact, Sikkim’s story is a model example of sustainability that is currently being emulated in other northeastern states of the country and Kerala, who recently faced extensively floods as a result of unsustainable development amplified by climate change. 

Sikkim beat out 51 nominations from 25 countries from all over the world at the event organised by the FAO and the World Future Council (WFC). The state’s Chief Minister, Pawan Kumar Chamling, even stated, “Let us build an organic world together,” when accepting the award. 

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Robots Perform Manual Labor to Make Farming Easier 02-11

Robots Perform Manual Labor to Make Farming Easier

Farming by hand involves a lot of intense labor and some mindless tasks.

There’s a startup that thinks there’s a better way to do things. Harvest Automation designs robots that arrange pots in nurseries and greenhouses. But soon, they might be able to accomplish even more – like warehousing and manufacturing.

The startup based out of Billerica, Mass., hopes to take care of some simple and often labor-intensive tasks that can be hard on workers. Moving pots around might not seem like the most important purpose for a robot, but it is actually the perfect jumping off point for Harvest Automation.

Some of the company’s founders previously worked on the team that developed the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner. But when they left the company, they took some time to decide what type of robot to develop next. And they knew that instead of making a multi-functioning robot, they wanted to make a robot that did one thing really well.

Moving potted plants around is essential for keeping plants healthy as they grow and need more space. It is also a task that is simple enough for a robot to process and difficult enough to be unpleasant or even dangerous for human workers.

But the company isn’t trying to replace human workers with robots. Instead, it simply aims to make the whole process easier by automating very specific tasks. Harvest Automation co-founder and CTO Joseph Jones spoke to Inc about the company:

“We were naturally concerned about accusations that our robots would steal jobs. Charlie [Grinnell, the company’s COO] talked to customers about that early on. They said, “Don’t worry. We’re not going to fire anybody.” Currently, growers have a shortage of workers, so they plan to keep them on and give them higher-value tasks. And the workers we are training tell us they would much rather supervise robots than move pots around by hand.”

The company is still in its early stages. It plans to work on automating some other tasks as well, while still making sure each robot specializes in one thing. That will allow people to improve the whole farming process, save money and resources, and potentially even make it a more earth-friendly process.

Image: Harvest Automation, Facebook

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