Sikkim has become India’s first fully organic state. It has gradually converted around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land to certified organic land by adhering to the guidelines laid down in National Programme for Organic Production, PTI reported. The Sikkim Organic Mission said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make a formal announcement at a sustainable agriculture conference in Gangtok on January 18.

The government of Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling had decided to turn Sikkim into an organic state through a declaration in the legislative assembly in 2003. The sale of chemical pesticides and fertilisers was then banned and their entry into farmlands was restricted, forcing farmers to go organic.