Nómina

to go organic

Mahesh Chander1

Key words: Sikkim, organic state, sustainability, livestock

1 Principal Scientist & Head, Division of Extension Education, ICAR- Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar- 243 122 (UP) India. www.ivri.nic.in, Email: [email protected]

Role of Livestock in Sustainable Agriculture IAHA Pre-Conference on Organic Animal Husbandry November 7-8, 2017 linked to the 19th Organic World Congress, New Delhi, India, November 9-11, 2017 Organized by IAHA, FiBL, OFAI, NCOF, ICAR-IVRI , ANTHRA, IFOAM

Introduction

On 18th _{January, 2016, the Prime Minister of India announced Sikkim}2 _{as India’s first fully organic} agriculture state.

It was a huge announcement having wide ranging implications for the agricultural sector of the state. Sikkim has been gearing itself for switching to organic agriculture since 2010 when the Sikkim Organic Mission3 _{(SOM) was officially launched on 15}th_{August 2010. It’s role, to organize} activities more systematically under a formal structure. Earlier in 2003,the historic declaration was made in the Sikkim State Legislative Assembly, wherein a resolution was passed for policy interventions geared towards realizing the vision of transforming Sikkim into a ‘Total Organic State’. This intent of the state to convert to organic status led to series of activities and initiatives by various departments of government to initiate pro-organic activities in the state. The state departments of agriculture and rural development were particularly active in bringing about necessary changes in the system. The state department of animal husbandry also took the initiative to follow up the activities relevant to organic animal husbandry. This paper describes the initiatives undertaken towards developing a roadmap of organic animal husbandry development in Sikkim state.

Material and methods

In order to streamline organic animal husbandry developmental activities in the state, the Department of AH, LF & VS organized the first Organic animal husbandry workshop for the Veterinary Officers of the state on 27 & 28th _{September 2014, which initiated some thinking on the} lines of Organic Animal Husbandry. To further encourage organic animal husbandry development activities in the state, a daylong workshop was convened on 31st _{October, 2015 by the SOM.} This workshop was conducted under the expert guidance of the author, wherein, 42 veterinarians took part in the deliberations.

The development officials of the state, including veterinarians from the state animal husbandry and dairy development and rural development departments, have attended various training programmes, exposure visits outside the state, workshops, orientation programmes, certification procedures, etc. over last 3-4 years while marching towards becoming truly an organic state in India. Results

The key objective of this workshop was to develop a Road Map for organic animal husbandry development in the state of Sikkim. The workshop and series of discussions with the stakeholders in the livestock sector of Sikkim state resulted in a document, Organic animal husbandry development in Sikkim: The roadmap (Chander & Sharma, 2015). The document showed the way forward for organic animal husbandry developmental activities in the state. Further to this, three senior level veterinary officers of Livestock and Dairy Development Departments attended a Model Training Course on organic animal husbandry at ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar during 16-23 November 2015 coordinated by the author. Later on, two scientists from ICAR- National Organic Farming Research Institute based in Sikkim underwent a short course on organic animal husbandry coordinated by the author at ICAR- Indian Veterinary Research Institute to enhance their capacities in this emerging area. The SOM, the Department of AH, LF & VS and the newly

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikkim 2 http://www.sikkimorganicmission.gov.in/

established National Organic Farming Research Institute are working towards making organic animal husbandry, in conjunction with crops, a sustainable practice in Sikkim. It is hoped to encourage an increasing number of visitors to the state to learn and promote organic farming. In India’s North Eastern region in particular, Sikkim is being seen as a role model state to be followed by other states in the region in matters of organic agriculture.

Discussion and conclusion

This document is a humble effort towards the development of organic animal husbandry in the state of Sikkim. Sikkim has taken an ambitious, path breaking, bold and pioneering decision to be the first fully organic state in India, in all respects. This is an appreciable but challenging decision, since many nuts and bolts have to be fixed to give a practical shape to it so that it is acceptable under organic production systems. As the farming practices, including animal husbandry, practiced in Sikkim are very close to practices recommended under organic production systems, the State is naturally blessed for organic farming. Yet, we need creative interventions in the areas of animal breeding, feeding, housing, management, disease control, value addition, product marketing etc. to make it a truly organic state. It is a challenging task considering the feed and fodder scarcity, nagging diseases especially coccidiosis in poultry and uncontrolled movement of livestock along borders of the state. This document has recommended several needed interventions for guiding the stakeholders at different levels towards orienting and developing organic animal husbandry in Sikkim as a sustainable practice.

Sikkim and other states considering developing organic animal husbandry should consider following interventions:

• Developing/reviewing STATE POLICY FOR ORGANIC AGRICULTURE - elaborating vision, mission, objectives, roles, responsibilities, strength, weakness, opportunities and challenges (SWOC) in context of organic animal husbandry

• Arranging cheaper certification mechanism-State OA certification agency

• Developing a system of livestock grower groups including PGS for livestock production

• Exploring possibilities for the export of organic products from the state

• Developing a Bio-tourism infrastructure

• Setting up a Traceability system to develop a livestock value chain

• Capacity building of veterinarians, other staff and farmers

• Breeding policy suitable for organic systems

• Feed and fodder assurance to livestock

The European Union has developed action plans (Schmid, Padel, Lampkin and Meredith, 2015) for organic agriculture including animal husbandry, which could be good to guide organic animal husbandry developmental activities in India, with location specific changes.

References

Chander, Mahesh and Ghana Shyam Sharma. 2015. Organic Animal Husbandry Development: The Roadmap. Sikkim Organic Mission, Government of Sikkim, Department of AH, LF & VS, Tadong, Sikkim. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0TX5SvS4lMRQmhTWDFkdVNZc3c/view

Schmid O., Padel S., Lampkin N., Meredith S. (2015). Organic Action Plans: A Guide for Stakeholders. IFOAM EU, Brussel

Abstract

The region of Ranbir Singh Pura (R.S. Pura) is reknowned for producing the best basmati rice in the world. Considering the importance of organic farming and its export potential at premium prices, the Department of Agriculture of Jammu Division initiated the production of organic basmati from a cluster of three villages; Suchetgarh, Korotana Khurd and Bidipur Jattan with its headquarters at Suchetgarh. The cluster is called the Suchetgarh Basmati Rice Cluster (SBRC) and the project known as the SBRC Project. The cluster comprises 769 organic basmati-producing families cultivating rice in approximately 880 ha. Fifty families per village were selected randomly to study their knowledge, attitude and perception of towards organic livestock farming. The study revealed that the majority of the basmati growers (65%) had a low level of knowledge of organic livestock farming, and 29% had a medium level of knowledge. About 60% of the organic basmati growers had a favourable attitude towards organic livestock farming compared to 38% of respondents who had a neutral attitude. In case of perception of the importance and requirements of organic livestock farming today, the majority of respondents (61%) possessed a medium level of perception, 24% had a low level, and 15% had a high level of perception. The study concluded that, if the organic basmati growers are motivated and had adequate training related to organic livestock farming, they can become a hub for organic products of both agriculture and animal origin.

Knowledge, Attitude and Perception of