Applause echoed in the Lok Sabha in the budget session when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took pride in announcing Sikkim as the first Indian state to go wholly organic. In his speech, he acknowledged the “hard work that the farmers of Sikkim had put in” and added, “If a small state like Sikkim can do it, why can’t we dream of developing the whole of Northeast as an organic region?” Promising all help to Sikkim’s farmers, he added, “Government of India will help in capturing the global market for them.”