Sikkim is a tiny state tucked in Northeast India. It has achieved a great milestone as it has become India’s first fully organic state by implementing organic practices on around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land. This was achieved over a period of 12 years as it was in 2003 that the government decided to make Sikkim a state that is fully organic. They enacted legislation for this in their state assembly. They banned the entry of chemicals for farming purposes, their sale was also banned. Farmers thus did not have any option but to go organic.
I was so thrilled to read this report. I wish we can also turn Kenya into a completely organic state. We can do it if we educate our farmers on the evil effects of pesticides. Very often it is ignorance and the ready availability of these harmful chemicals that make our farmers take the easy route. These chemicals may be easy to use- just buy them and have them sprayed and the pests are gone. But new problems come in even before we realize. Diseases like leukemia, lymphoma, brain, kidney, breast, liver, lung, skin cancers and various other hormonal imbalances can occur if these pesticides are used over a long term. These chemicals cause damage to the environment and sometimes they may destroy good bacteria too. The toxins can also get into the vegetables and fruits and cause many defects in the consumers.
We have to train our farmers to use bio pesticides using neem, garlic etc which can kill harmful pests and keep the nation healthy. Kenya Vegetarian Club is spearheading this campaign and we also talk to the farmers about keeping the soil healthy and for this, we have to use good bio fertilizers and nutrients. Then if good quality seeds are planted the yield will also be good.
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