(Part I) Why traditional farming practices are Diminishing in Hilly regions of Uttarakhand — By Pooja Kala
The Himalayan range spreads over a length of about 2500 kilometers with a width of about 220–300 kilometers. It fully/ partially covers about eleven states in the region viz. Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal and Uttarakhand. Multiple ethnic groups live in the Himalayan realm. The ethnic spectra of central and western Himalayas is completely different from the north eastern regions, with many tribes in the north eastern region exhibiting ‘mongoloid’ affiliation.
The Himalaya are more than just hills or a mountain system; it is a living entity or an ecosystem that has been present from centuries with the largest, highest and most sophisticated mountain systems in the world. It comprises of civilizations, natural resources and abundance of flora and fauna with rich traditional knowledge. The Indian Himalaya covers an area about 5 lakh km2 (about 16.2% of country’s total geographical area) and forms the northern boundary of the country. The primary activity in the region has been agriculture and major farming system practiced is subsistence form of farming. The other activities that are practiced in the region involve animal husbandry, handicraft, horticulture activities and Eco-tourism.
Somehow, the difficult terrain, environmental hazards and isolation of the area since long has nurtured the area into an abode of natural resources which needs to be harnessed. Somehow, the penetration of modern agriculture was not possible due to inaccessibility and extreme ecological conditions (Maikhuri, et al., 1996). The opportunities with the constraints need to be realized keeping the mountain perspective. There is also a requirement of people government participatory interface in this field.
Uttarakhand is among these Himalayan states and 27th state in the country. The people in the region rely on agriculture as their main occupation with over 75 percent of population depending on it. The agricultural crops are grown in almost all altitudes with variation on crops from low lying regions called as “Gangarh” to high altitude regions known as ‘Danda’.
The major reasons for low production owe to the terraced fields, undulating fields, rainfed agriculture practice, lack of agricultural technologies specific to the hilly regions of Uttarakhand.
The major cropping seasons are Rabi and Kharif. The Rabi season mainly occurs from March to April but in the high altitude areas it is observed from Dec to January to May to June. The main crops grown are Wheat, Barley, Mustard etc.
On the other hand, the Kharif the season varies according to different elevations. The Kharif season varies from May to June to September to October, in highly elevated regions, it may last from June to July to October to November. The main crop is Rice though other millets are grown extensively. Rice is extensively grown in the talaon (irrigated) land of the ‘Gangarh’ (Sati V.P. 1993). The other traditional varieties that are cultivated are Ramadana, Manduwa, Soybean, Bajra. The other crops grown are pumpkin, beans, ginger, chilli, cucumber, leafy vegetable and tobacco. Potato is being seen as a major cash crop in the low lying regions.
What is the traditional Baranaja practice?
The region of Uttarakhand was believed to have followed the practice of Barahanaja. The traditional practice of ‘Barahnaja’ is practiced in certain regions of the state with crops such as Ramdana (Amaranthus), Rajma (Common Kidney Bean), Manduwa (Finger Millets), Naurangi dal (mix of pulses), ogal (buckwheat), bhat (soybean), vegetables such as Kheera (Cucumber), oilseeds such as bhang (cannabis) etc. being cultivated.
The practices provided maximum output with minimum required input (Sati V.P. 2005). The practice was beneficiary not just in terms of production, but also in nutritional factors as the selected twelve crops met all the nutritional needs in different parts of the year. Somehow the stress in the region has to be laid out on the revival of these traditional practices that were not just beneficial to the farmer in terms of profit generation but also to the environment and health of the community.
The video below mentions the advantages of Baranaja practice in which Shri. Vijay Jardhariji has played a pioneer role in acting as the role model in revival of this traditional practice. He has also conserved many traditional seed varieties and acted as the flag bearer for Beej Bachao Andolan since 1980.
The famous saying here is: “Apna aalo bazaar becha, birana aaloo thoopda becha”, which means selling potato cultivated by you in the market and then being forced to buy for consumption. The slogan below spread like wildfire throughout the region and call for saving the seeds.
“Jote Boye Jo Zameen
Beej Usi ke Rahe Adheen
Evam Mitti Paani Beej Aur Pedh
Band Karo Tum Unse Chhedh”(He who tills and cultivates the land
The seeds belong to him alone
The earth, water, seeds and trees
Stop messing with these resources)
What’s the current status??
The current status of agriculture in the hills is basically subsistence in nature where a farmer grows for his own living and saves some. There has been a recent trend in diminishing crop varieties and cultivars. Land holdings of the farmers in the Himalayan region are very small and fragmented too. The Himalayas have a large genetic diversity of crop species as well as the land races indigenously developed by the farmers of the region. The area of Uttarakhand supports all three types of region tropical, sub-tropical and temperate.
The commercial cultivation of horticulture crops such as Apple, Walnut and Apricot etc is prevalent in hilly terrains. Other crops such as turmeric, garlic, ginger, cardamom, coriander and fenugreek, flowers such as gladiolus, gerbera is also prevalent in certain districts of the region.
Why the seed varieties are diminishing???
In 1965, wave of green revolution took over the country with the introduction of high yielding varieties and cultivars, fertilizers, adoption of new technologies with an aim of bringing high turnover in production rates of the country. Though the seeds and fertilizers distributed exhibited and delivered to the expectations in the hills as well but it somehow led to diminishing rates of traditional seeds. Somehow the high yield from the varieties inclined the rural as well as the urban masses towards seeds moving away from the indigenous ones. The hybrid seeds somehow lack the vigor to regenerate next year with the same rate in comparison to the traditional seeds that was practiced before.
Vijay Jardhari one of the pioneers of BBA in state of Uttarakhand has been working in same aspect from years. Now, Beej Bachao Andolan had about 150 varieties of paddy from which 100 different varieties can still be grown. BBA has also collected more than 200 varieties of rajma. Effective pest control is accomplished by using the leaves of the walnut and neem, and the application of the ash and cow’s urine. The use of traditional farming methods and seeds has resulted higher yields, improved health of humans and increased conservation of soil fertility and agro-biodiversity.
Jardhari recalls how the new seeds were provided with a kit containing fertilizers and other chemicals: We too used them and had a bumper crop in the first year. We decided to use the same seeds next year without the chemicals and fertilizer. But production went down; we used the same seed again but yield declined. We started bringing back old seeds, cultivated them in our fields, and then shared them with other farmers. This diversification is security against drought and crop failure. Different crops are harvested at different times of the year and ensure year-round supply of food. This also maintains soil fertility by replenishing nitrogen. This brought people’s attention back to traditional farming; they understood the cost incurred is very less — you have seeds of your own, manure from your home and even the pesticides. But in modern agricultural practices you get everything for free initially but later you find yourself dependent on the market.
Why there is an immediate need for conservation?
The conservation practices are in-situ as well as ex-situ in practice. Some (Singh et al., 1996) of the arguments that are used to promote conservation of plants are:
- Plants are valuable resources for humanity
- Role of plants in maintaining stable environment is indispensable
- In the maintenance of stability of environment
- Maintenance of future options
- Cultural value and symbolic use
Upcoming Articles…
The upcoming article includes a general review of the status of Hybrid seeds: their status and challenges. It includes the impact of green revolution and how later traditional seeds were replaced by the hybrid seeds with better production parameters in the hill region of the country.
The other article Native Seed Conservation and role of Women involves the active and primary participation of women in all the agriculture and livestock related activity. They perform all major agriculture operations such as transplanting, planting, harvesting etc. Animal husbandry operations involving the collection of fodder, feeding is all conducted by them. Women in the hills since ages were more attached to the nature. The inference for this can be drawn from the fact that one of the biggest movement for saving trees known as “Chipko movement” was started by hill women. This was not just lauded in the country but was praised worldwide. So, their role in conservation of environment and native seeds cannot just be denied.
About Author: Ms. Pooja Kala is a research expert for kheti-badi.com, and covers the various aspects of Organic / Natural farming practices from Himalaya (North India). In this series, she has emphasized on traditional farming practices from Himalaya and how age old method of preserving traditional seed varieties plays an important role in the Eco-system of the hilly region. This story is in three (3) parts, click here to read Part-II and Part-III.
About kheti-badi.com : kheti-badi.com is a platform to buy-sell organic products directly from farmers, the registration and listing products is free.
