AUGUST 2012 Curve

Indian Forester, 138 (8) : 689-696, 2012

ISSN 0019-4816

INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEMS FOR FOOD AND NUTRITIONAL SECURITY IN NORTH WESTERN HIMALAYAS K.S. DADHWAL, J.M.S. TOMAR, M. MURUGANANDAM, R. KAUSHAL AND O.P. CHATURVEDI Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, 218 - Kaulagarh Road, Dehradun (Uttarakhand) ABSTRACT North-western Himalayan region of India is blessed with vast natural resources, yet confronted with poor quality of life. Agriculture in the region is very subsistence in nature mainly to meet the livelihood and food requirements of the households. The agriculture productivity in the region is very low due to a variety of reasons including rainfed farming and low input usage. In the region, farming systems on integrated watershed management basis can be promoted for diversification, improving livelihood, soil quality and food security. Besides, it can also be helpful in soil amelioration, stabilization of degraded lands and mitigation of the impacts of climate. Keywords: Agroforestry systems, Integrated farming systems, Northwestern Himalayas, Watershed management

Introduction The Indian Himalayas cover an area of 53.8 million ha, which is 16.4% of the total geographical area of the country. This region is habitation to about 4% of total population of the country and sparsely populated, with a population density of 627 per 1000 ha. The region has rich biodiversity along with immense traditional and indigenous knowledge. About 56% of the total workforce is engaged in agriculture as it is the primary sector of the economy contributing 45% to total regional income of the inhabitants. The availability of cultivated land in the region is only 0.17 ha per capita as compared to 0.13 ha for the whole country. Forest is the major land use in the Himalayas covering nearly 59% of the total reported area. Net cultivated area is higher in western Himalayan region (15.8% of total geographical area) as compared to Eastern Himalayan region (9.8%). Hence, the agrarian economy of the hills is heavily dependent on forest for supply of energy, medicinal plants, fodder, water and non-timber products and livestock rearing. Also, the region stands as an important geographic factor that regulates hydrology and agro-climatic conditions of the whole country, which necessitates the prudent management of the natural resources, especially in the changing scenario of climate that would bring an increase in temperatures between 1.4oC and 5.8oC by 2100. Nonetheless, the forest and other natural resources are increasingly degraded due to many natural and anthropogenic factors. Presently, status of agriculture and the dependent farmers are very poor,

which requires introduction of appropriate farming technologies, especially suitable Integrated Farming Systems (IFS) and high yielding technologies in order to provide livelihood and food security to the people of the region. The household, its resources and the resource flows and interactions at the individual farm levels are together referred to as a farm system (FAO, 2001). Under the gradual shrinking of land holding, it is necessary to integrate land based enterprises like fishery, poultry, duckery, apiary, field and horticultural crops etc. within the bio-physical and socio-economic environment of the farmers to make farming more profitable and dependable (Behera et al., 2004). In the IFS, the uses of inputs are rationalized to maximize the output from all the components integrated. In the process of integration, often the output of one component becomes the input of another, which ultimately reduces the use of input quantity and pollution potential of the farming components. Also, suitable IFS insulate the capacity of farming communities against crop failure, food scarcity or economic crisis. Considering the present poor performance of existing farming systems in western Himalayas and the potential of IFS for the region, a review was made to bring out critical gaps in research and development issues for the benefit of various stakeholders. Present status and potential of agriculture and allied sectors Agriculture in the western Himalayan region is very subsistence in nature mainly to meet the livelihood, fuelwood, fodder and food requirements of the

Watershed based integrated farming system can be promoted for diversification, improving livelihood, soil, quality and food security in North-Western Himalayan region of India.

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households. In the western Himalayan region wheat is the principal crop (36.4% area) followed by rice (30.7%) and maize (26.3%). The millets are mainly confined to Uttarakhand. The State is organic since the intensity of fertilizer use is minimum, which gives a natural advantage in production of organic foods and bio-products, etc. Animal husbandry stands to be second important sub-sector after agriculture in meeting the livelihoods of the resource-poor farmers. Besides these two subsectors, horticulture, agroforestry and other small-scale enterprises or farming like bee-keeping, rabbitary, medicinal plants, fish farming, sericulture, bamboobased industries, etc. hold promising potentials in the region, which need to be harnessed through strategic approaches. The Himalayan ecosystem has relative advantages for horticulture because of its specific environmental conditions and varied micro-climatic situations (Samra et al., 1999). In the Himalayan region, the commonly preferred horticultural based agroforestry systems are agri-silvi-horticulture and silvihorticulture. The mountain region represents subtropical to temperate climate and a wide range of fruits (citrus, banana, mango, apple, pineapple, walnut, plum, peach, cherry, etc.), vegetables (potato, pea, capsicum, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.), spices (ginger, chilies, cardamom, saffron, etc.) and flower orchids (gladiolus, marigold, chrysanthemum, etc.) can be grown in the region. Although these crops are well adapted, their cultivation and making by- products from them is rather on a small-scale at present. Total area under cultivation of fruits and vegetables is about 16% of the gross cropped area which is much higher than the all India average of 4%. In some of the established orchards of apple, peach and almonds especially in the Jammu and Kashmir State, the cultivation of pulses and vegetable is becoming very popular some farmers also intercrop maize and oats in for generating more income from small land holdings orchards. The Himalayan region supports more than 50 million domestic animals (1.6 animals ha-1) for milk, meat, fur, wool, hides, transportation, manure and other purposes. The livestock pressure is relatively higher in the Himalayas than in the plains. In the western Himalayan region, cattle are the most common animals (47.5%) followed by goats (15.8%), buffaloes (12.3%) and sheep (10.4%). Although, diversity of indigenous crop varieties and livestock breeds is declining and utilization of exotic high-yielding crop varieties or livestock breeds is increasing at a very nominal rate, the present agricultural or annual productivity stands at the minimum. While settled grazing (Kharak) is normally practiced in low and mid-hills, nomadic or migratory grazing is common with

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limited stall feeding in the hills. Problems of the animal husbandry include infertility, calcium deficiency, low milk yield, poor growth, genetically poor breeding capacity of animals and frequent ill-health of animals. Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), peste des petits ruminants (PPR; in goats and sheep), black quarter (Langatiya fever), ectoand endo-parasitic infections and leach infection in respiratory track are few of the more common problems that affect performance of the sub-sector. Suitable exotic breeds with high yielding potential may be suitably introduced in the region along with appropriate support facilities. Fisheries sector of the region largely depend on capture fisheries. Virtually, rivers form the major source (95%) of fish diet for local inhabitants against 50% in plain States of India that results in wide demand-supply gap in the region. For example, in Uttarakhand, the present highest annual fish production level of 6422 tonnes (t) is 6 times lower than the quantity required (39,684 t per year) to meet recommended demand of 200 gm per individual per week by 50% of fish consumers in the State (Muruganandam, 2009). Fishing in rivers of the region is often carried out in a very unhealthy and destructive manner which needs strict surveillance through all means. Considering potential and present production regime, there exists huge scope for capture, culture and sport fisheries in the region. The potential for revenue generation through angling and sport fishing of trout and mahseer is immense in the region. Composite carp culture of both Indian Major Carps (IMC) and exotic carps in plains and foothills, exotic carps in mid-hills, Oncorhynchus mykiss (rainbow trout) and Salmo truto fario (brown trout) in higher hills and conservation of local fish species in different elevations of Himalayan region may bridge the wide supply-demand gap and promote fisheries in the region. Existing huge production potential of high value crop of trout is almost exclusive to the region, which needs the support of research and development agencies to increase the present annual production of 300 t to 3000 t by 2025. Integrated fish farming along with accommodative agriculture has immense potential in the Himalayan region. Propagation of rescheduled carp farming calendar (April to December), stocking of grown-up carp seedlings at right density of 1-2 fish/m2 on the onset of summer, adequate feeding and water quality management should be emphasized to enhance the present carp yields of