78
to climatic vulnerability is human migration from the hills as because the agriculture
in the mountains is not productive or profitable. The paper addresses the challenges
of doing agriculture in the Indian Himalayan region and provides opportunities for
technology-driven climate resilient agriculture by identifying a few potential agricultural technologies and interventions for the hills.
2 Indian Himalayan Region (IHR)
The mighty Hindu-Kush Himalayan (HKH) region extending over 3500 km with an
area of 43 lakh km
2
is the source of perennial water from the rivers like the
Brahmaputra, the Ganga, the Yamuna and the Indus; harbours biodiversity hotspots
rich in endemic flora and fauna, many of which are listed in IUCN red list; is inhabited by several ethnic communities that have strategic traditional knowledge systems (TKS) and is rich in mineral deposits (i.e. limestone, dolomite, lead, iron,
copper, etc.) (Nandy et al. 2006). The Indian Himalayan region (IHR) cover 5 lakh
km
2
(11.6% of total HKH region), which is around 16.2% of the country’s total
geographical area with its rich natural resources providing livelihoods to around
210.53 million people. Reportedly, 80% of the HKH population is dependent on
farming for its livelihood, and the traditional societies do observe festivals that
mostly are related to agriculture (for example, Hornbill festival of Nagaland,
Chapchar Kut of Mizoram, Nongkrem Dance festival of Meghalaya, Harela festival
of Uttarakhand, etc.) which shows the bondage of socio-cultural principles with
agriculture and agro-ecosystems (Negi and Maikhuri 2013; Nayak and Mishra
2013; Wettstein 2016; Renthlei 2017). The IHR covers 12 states of India, which are
Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh,
Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, Sikkim and Meghalaya) along with the hilly parts of
Assam and West Bengal.
3 Agriculture Production in the IHR States
According to Census of India (2011), 13.73% of India’s population lives in the
IHR. Further, it is reported that 14.58% of India’s total rural population lives in the
IHR states, which contribute to 8.7% of the country’s total agricultural land and
15.68% of total number of estimated agricultural households. The major crops of
IHR states are rice, wheat, potato, maize, onion, coarse cereals, bajra, etc., with the
average food grain yield of 1680.58 kg/ha. This is lower than the country’s average
yield i.e. 2984 kg/ha. Nonetheless, IHR states cover 17.16% of total country’s horticultural area and 18.56% of the country’s total horticultural production that
includes fruits, vegetables, flowers, aromatics, spices, plantations and honey. These
states contribute 6.49%, 9.14%, 24.11% and 15.75% of the country’s total milk,
egg, wool and meat production, respectively. Further, it is interesting to note that
L. Pandey and A. Arunachalam
to climatic vulnerability is human migration from the hills as because the agriculture
in the mountains is not productive or profitable. The paper addresses the challenges
of doing agriculture in the Indian Himalayan region and provides opportunities for
technology-driven climate resilient agriculture by identifying a few potential agricultural technologies and interventions for the hills.
2 Indian Himalayan Region (IHR)
The mighty Hindu-Kush Himalayan (HKH) region extending over 3500 km with an
area of 43 lakh km
2
is the source of perennial water from the rivers like the
Brahmaputra, the Ganga, the Yamuna and the Indus; harbours biodiversity hotspots
rich in endemic flora and fauna, many of which are listed in IUCN red list; is inhabited by several ethnic communities that have strategic traditional knowledge systems (TKS) and is rich in mineral deposits (i.e. limestone, dolomite, lead, iron,
copper, etc.) (Nandy et al. 2006). The Indian Himalayan region (IHR) cover 5 lakh
km
2
(11.6% of total HKH region), which is around 16.2% of the country’s total
geographical area with its rich natural resources providing livelihoods to around
210.53 million people. Reportedly, 80% of the HKH population is dependent on
farming for its livelihood, and the traditional societies do observe festivals that
mostly are related to agriculture (for example, Hornbill festival of Nagaland,
Chapchar Kut of Mizoram, Nongkrem Dance festival of Meghalaya, Harela festival
of Uttarakhand, etc.) which shows the bondage of socio-cultural principles with
agriculture and agro-ecosystems (Negi and Maikhuri 2013; Nayak and Mishra
2013; Wettstein 2016; Renthlei 2017). The IHR covers 12 states of India, which are
Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh,
Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, Sikkim and Meghalaya) along with the hilly parts of
Assam and West Bengal.
3 Agriculture Production in the IHR States
According to Census of India (2011), 13.73% of India’s population lives in the
IHR. Further, it is reported that 14.58% of India’s total rural population lives in the
IHR states, which contribute to 8.7% of the country’s total agricultural land and
15.68% of total number of estimated agricultural households. The major crops of
IHR states are rice, wheat, potato, maize, onion, coarse cereals, bajra, etc., with the
average food grain yield of 1680.58 kg/ha. This is lower than the country’s average
yield i.e. 2984 kg/ha. Nonetheless, IHR states cover 17.16% of total country’s horticultural area and 18.56% of the country’s total horticultural production that
includes fruits, vegetables, flowers, aromatics, spices, plantations and honey. These
states contribute 6.49%, 9.14%, 24.11% and 15.75% of the country’s total milk,
egg, wool and meat production, respectively. Further, it is interesting to note that
L. Pandey and A. Arunachalam