In its first step towards making the union territory of Ladakh organic, the administration of Ladakh on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Sikkim State Organic Certification Agency (SOCCA).
On behalf of the Administration of Union Territory of Ladakh, the MoU was signed by the Executive Councillor, Agriculture, LAHDC, Leh, Stanzin Chosphel; Secretary, Agriculture, Ravinder Kumar; Deputy Commissioner and CEO, LAHDC, Leh, Shrikant Suse with the representatives of SSOCA and Agriculture Department, Leh.
A tripartite MOU has been signed between Ladakh and SSOCA regarding the implementation of Prampragat Krishi Vikas Yojana and Mission Organic Development Initiative (MODI) in the Ladakh region with the aim to convert Ladakh into organic by 2025. The main objective of this MOU is to get the organic certification after a tie-up with the Government of India.
Secretary Ravinder said that the aim is to make Ladakh a certified organic UT by 2025 which will be completed in three phases. He said that for organic certification the department has divided Ladakh into 3-phases. In the first phase, 85 villages have been identified with an aim to convert 5000 hectares of land into organic and in the 2nd phase, 82 villages will be covered with an area of 10000 hectares and under the 3rd phase, the department has selected 79 villages which will cover the remaining areas.
Sikkim is the first state that is 100 per cent organic with all of its farmland certified organic. The use and sale of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are banned in Sikkim.