This was the first of four seminars held in partnership with the Centre for Field Learning, India with support from Eko Consulting India.
Abstract:
A small Indian state, Sikkim, sitting in the lap of the Himalayas, took a revolutionary step by deciding to turn 100% organic. This paper shows the path taken by Sikkim to become a fully organic state. It shows how the entire process was planned systematically. It also notes how the cropping pattern changed and the difficulties that the farmers faced while adopting organic farming. The paper looks into the replicability of this operation and also the scalability. We conclude that it is not feasible to scale up Sikkim’s experiment; and it is also difficult to replicate it. But still, the experiment is successful because Sikkim looks poised to remain organic, mostly by choice.
Bio:
Prof Alka Parikh is the Founding Director of Centre for Field Learning. The Centre is based on the premise that the research in social sciences should be informed by field level investigations and observations. In addition to encouraging such research, the Centre also advocates free knowledge and sticks to only open access publications for its work. Prof Parikh has done her PhD from Cornell university in USA and is a gold medalist from Mumbai University. She is a passionate teacher, a silent activist and a dedicated researcher. She has published many books and articles, had served as a Dean and is also on the board of Trustees of two NGOs.
