SIKKIM: CELEBRATIONS HELD TO PROMOTE ORGANIC FARMING IN THE STATE

The west district administration on Sunday celebrated a programme termed as 'Celebrating organic farming' at Industrial Training Institute of Geyzing. An initiative conceptualised by the district administration to promote organic farming in west Sikkim the event was organized on the theme ''Practice, preach and promote organic farming".

DC (west) A.B Karki was present in the event along with employees of all the government departments under the west district administration.

The employees of the different government departments actively took part in plantation drive carried at the vacant compound of Industrial Training institute. Seedlings of many varieties of vegetables were planted by the employees. The men employees were tasked to plough and till the field while the women participated in vegetable plantation drive. The employees had contributed certain amount of cash for making provisions of manures and vegetable seedlings.

At the outset the resource persons from agriculture department awared the government employees about sustainability and long term benefit of organic farming. They sensitized the employees about different methods to be applied in organic farming to carry the farming in a successful way. The resource persons also shared methods and ways of preparing manures for crops and pesticides and insecticides in organic way to keep the crops secured from pest and insects. They stressed the need of organic farming to be practiced in an extensive way and participations of people belonging from every each and every sections of the society in the farming.

District collector A.B Chettri in his address informed that the district administration organized a day long event on organic farming with an aim of promoting and preaching the farming in west Sikkim. He further informed that spreading awareness among the government employees through a platform was another objectives of the initiative.

Calling for the larger participations and support of the government employees in the state's organic mission Chettri said that agriculture based on organic method is a vibrant subject with abundance scope of sustainability should be practiced, preached and popularised in a comprehensive way. He added that sustainable development of agriculture will improve the economic stability of the state and the conditions of the farming community will see a change. "The organic farming should be adopted as a culture and a way of life of the people. We should bring fallow and barren lands under cultivation as such practices will accelerate the growth of agricultural productivity in the state thus making Sikkim a self reliant. Farming must be practiced in an extensive way so that benefits of the farming reach to the larger section of the society", D.C said.

He added that barren and unused lands around all the government offices' premise of west Sikkim should be utilized for growing vegetables or other crops in coming days. He expressed that west Sikkim should lead with example in terms of sustainable growth of agriculture in the state.

He spoke about need for fixation of prices of organic products in Geyzing D.C said that the administration will work to sort out the issue considering the interests of the farmers and consumers.

D.C informed that the district administration will keworks for promotion of organic farming in west Sikkim .