Organic Agricultural Area � Lakshadweep

The Union Territory of Lakshadweep has been declared as Organic Agricultural Area by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s welfare. Lakshadweep, which is the smallest Union Territory of India having 36 islands, is now a 100% organic region.

Key Points

• Lakshadweep is second after Sikkim to achieve the status of 100% organic region. Also, it is the first Union Territory that has been declared as Organic Agricultural Area.
• The entire 32 square km area of the UT has been certified as organic under the Union Government’s Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (organic farming improvement programme).
• Lakshadweep has been separated from mainstream India geographically. There has been no shipment of chemicals and fertilizers to the island group for the last 15 years.
• The UT administration has been practicing farming only using inputs like compost, poultry manure, green leaf manure, etc. The UT has not made any expenditure for the procurement of chemicals and fertilizers since 2005.

Lakshadweep to expand coconut business

The administration of the UT is looking forward to expanding the coconut business by value addition, improved marketing, and processing. The island produces approximately 10 crore coconuts in 12,000 smallholdings with a 0.25 average size. Presently, only 3 crore nuts are processed on the island and 7 crores are in excess. Also, at present, the industry works for only 6 months in the UT during the dry months. The administration of the island aims to introduce equipment and dryers to start the work in wet months also. This is expected to increase the utilization of coconut to more than 70%.

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana

It is a scheme launched in the year 2015 for supporting and promoting organic farming and improving soil health. It is a component of Soil Health Management (SHM). The scheme aims to reduce the use of chemicals and pesticides and to increase the use of eco-friendly and cost-effective technology.