On September 7, 2010, FiBL director Urs Niggli met the Chief Minister of Sikkim, Pawan Chamling, at his official residence in Sikkim's capital city Gantok, to discuss the conversion of the state's agriculture to organic agriculture. The Minister of Agriculture D.N. Takarpa and the Secretary of State Vishal Chauhan were among the high-ranking officials present.
During the occasion, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Urs Niggli and the Secretary of State Mr. Vishal Chauhan declaring a long-term partnership in which the department will get full technical support from the institute on organic farming research and training.
At the meeting, Niggli praised the work already undertaken by Sikkim to achieve organic state status and added that though challenging, the task ahead is attainable given the enthusiasm and sincerity with which Sikkim has been working towards this objective. Niggli, who had earlier visited a village in Kitam, South Sikkim, was very impressed by the farmers' commitment to organic farming.
The Chief Minister reiterated the State's total commitment and looks forward to receiving the much needed technical know-how and support from Niggli and his institute to make the mission of going organic by 2015 a reality.
Source: Voice of Sikkim, September 8, 2010
More information
- VoiceofSikkim.com: CM urged Director FiBL for technical support to make Sikkim total organic by 2015
- Wikipedia.org: Sikkim
- FiBL contact: Urs Niggli