The organic State behind the Khet Bachao Abhiyan launch: Sikkim, the 22nd State of India and the home of Khangchendzonga

Background

When Sikkim inaugurated the Khet Bachao Abhiyan at its agriculture training institute, its ministers pointed to the State's standing as an organic State. Sikkim became India's first fully organic State in 2016, banning chemical fertilisers and pesticides to promote sustainable agriculture, and that bold step placed it on the global map as a leader in green governance. Sikkim became the 22nd State of India in 1975 after a peaceful political transition, and its earlier history was shaped by ancient kingdoms, spirituality and monarchs. It lies in the cradle of the eastern Himalayas, is India's second smallest State in area and its least populous, and shares international borders with Nepal, Bhutan and China, which makes it a bridge between India and the rest of the Himalayan world. It is the home of Mount Khangchendzonga, the third-highest peak on earth, venerated in Sikkim not only as a mountain but as a protective deity watching over the State and its people. Sikkim is also described by its own government as a land of spiritual quietude, ecological abundance and a cultural mosaic in the misty embrace of the Himalayas. In the decades since it joined the Union it has been held up as a model of progressive governance and ecological foresight.