Organic show awaits Modi in Sikkim

Flowers and a traditional house at Guards Ground in Gangtok. (Prabin Khaling)

TT, Gangtok, Jan. 17: Farmers are looking forward to the visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will touch down at the army helipad in Libing near here tomorrow afternoon to announce Sikkim as the first state in India to adopt organic farming.

Modi will go straight to Ridge Park in Gangtok where he will inaugurate the three-day Sikkim organic festival.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to reach Gangtok tomorrow and announce Sikkim as the first state in India to adopt organic farming. At the army helipad in Libing near here, Modi will be received by governor Dadasaheb Patil and chief minister Pawan Chamling.

Modi will also inaugurate a flower show at Ridge Park here tomorrow and name two new hybrid orchids of Sikkim. 

"At the Ridge Park, he would interact with flower farmers who would display cymbidium orchids. The 23 flower growers deploy organic methods for the farming," said a government official.

From there, he would step into the nearby Guards Ground where seasonal flowers such as gerbera, chrysanthemum, lily and roses are put up for display.

The farmers said they were excited by the visit of the Prime Minister.

"I wanted to offer flowers to the Prime Minister but we have been told that we cannot do so because of security reasons. I am excited to see Narendra Modi. I have seen him on television many times," said a woman farmer, Nirmala Thapa, from Kadamtan village in East Sikkim.

After the visit to Guards Ground, Modi will go to Chintan Bhavan where he will declare Sikkim as India's first organic state.
On January 19, Modi will leave around 8.30am for Saramsa garden, 12km from Gangtok, where he is slated to talk to 55 organic farmers and see the vegetables put up by them.