Impact of Climate Change on Traditional Agricultural Practices: Cases from Eastern Himalayas of India

The Eastern Himalaya region is characterized by a diversity of farming practices that have been developed and nurtured through many generations. Micro climatic conditions and variations in ecological systems within the Himalayas have generated very specific practices suitable for each specific zone. It is highly likely that each of these specific practices is responding to climatic changes in different ways. We shortlisted four unique traditional agricultural practices to analyze perceptions of communities practicing these in relation to their experience with climate change. Four different practices in four different zones were selected. These are the Apatani Plateau in Lower Subansari District of Arunachal Pradesh, Kiphrie district of eastern Nagaland, East and West Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, and Darjeeling District of West Bengal.

The Apatani Plateau is at an altitude of about 5000 ft above sea level. It is situated within 26º50´ and 98º21´N latitude and 92º40´ and 94º21´E longitude. The plateau covers an area of 10135 km2. Average rainfall is 108.1 cm and temperature covers a range from maximum 30.6º C to minimum 1.1ºC. Kiphire District in Nagaland has its Headquarters situated about 2,940 ft above sea level and 254 km from Kohima, the capital of Nagaland. Nagaland is situated 25°47'57"N latitude and 94°55'53"E longitude. East and West Khasi Hills are situated in Meghalaya which lies between 20.1 ‘N and 26.5 latitude and 85.49 ‘E and 92.52 "E longitude, with an altitude ranging from 6433 ft. The mean annual rainfall varies from 2000-4000 mm with most rainfall concentrated from May to September. Darjeeling is located at 27° 1' 60 N and 88° 16' 0 E at an altitude of 7001 ft above sea level. Annual Mean Rainfall is 3,200 mm with maximum temperature 14.89°C and Minimum Temperature 1.5°C.

The first agricultural system we looked into is rice based fish farming. This system is practiced in several countries in Southeast and South Asia. Paddy fields are designed to retain water and aquatic ecosystem created and stocked with fish. What is unique is that this ecosystem is self sustainable and paddy and fish nurture each other without any use of external feed or fertilizer. By default the system is organic. However, each place has some uniqueness and in Arunachal Pradesh of India the Apatani tribe has been able to reduce a knowledge gap that allows them optimum benefit from rice based fish farming (Saikia & Das, 2008)1. Farmers in this region of Eastern Himalayas have reported to harvest nearly 500 kg of fish per hectare of rice fields. We conducted several focus groups discussions with farmers including women all of who reported that in recent time rice based fish farming has become vulnerable to diseases.

The statement that particular agricultural systems in the Himalayas like rice based fish farming could be vulnerable to pest and diseases is more than anecdotal. Mishra et al 2 (2004) report that among some of the specific constraints in rice production in Arunachal Pradesh is the problem of disease and pest incidence - particularly stem borer and blast disease. Whether climate change is aggravating these requires strong scientific evidence which is beyond the scope of this study. However, our discussion with local farmers including women quite clearly pointed out that in recent time pest and disease problem has exacerbated and we could clearly feel a sense of helplessness as well as alarm. Besides, unpredictability in seasonality, which was authenticated by more than 80 percent of our respondents, provides some logical reason to infer that climate change can be the culprit that is increasing vulnerability for some traditional practices as in the Apatani Plateau of Arunachal Pradesh.

Secondly, we looked into one of the most controversial farming systems in the Eastern Himalayas. This is the slash and burn or jhum system. There are wide differences among scholars over this system. While one school considers this highly unsustainable the other advocates on how slash and burn could be made workable through low intensity resource use through moderated fallow period and supplementation of additional inputs like tree plantation (Jamir, 2007)3. The difficulty with overhauling this traditional practice is because it is part of indigenous institutions and any modifications may result in disrupting other practices including those that are cultural. Apart from local reluctance to stop jhum practice, reorienting farmers away from it could be a non optimum economic option. But what is evident is that the burning of vegetation while preparing jhum field imposes carbon in the environment which is a key ingredient in facilitating climate change and this activity undoubtedly is not benign.

Jhum is fraught with problems as well as is ingenious. Problems are mainly the decreasing fallow period because of increase in population as well as the burning of vegetation that contributes to carbon in the atmosphere. But on the other hand, there are many sound qualities within the system which contribute to make it quite a scientific practice. For example, no external input is used probably because it is based on the minimum necessities rather than commercialization. Moreover, a jhum field can grow as many as 35 different crops making it the most versatile system, has inbuilt pest and disease management mechanism, and communities continue innovations like the use of alnus nepalensis for nitrogen fixation that enrichens soil fertility. Moreover, jhum has undergone centuries of trial and error leading to its acceptance by marginalized communities who have been bypassed by modern development processes.

During our focus groups discussions, we asked jhum cultivators in Nagaland whether they are facing any effects of climate change with regard to their regular patterns of jhum. While they had heard of climate change from one medium or the other, all of them answered in the negative implying that their jhum patterns are not different now than what it has been for ages. Fallows may have decreased due to the aforesaid reasons, but sowing and harvesting seasons do not indicate changes susceptible to climate change. We honestly do not know what to make of this response but perhaps jhum is immuned to climate change for now but ultimately could succumb. Nevertheless the burning of fields necessary for jhum necessitates a fresh perspective and evaluation especially in the context of climate change.

It was clear from our discussions that traditional practices in agriculture are brimming with problems. There is need to authenticate these challenges with scientific evidence. But within such practices there are also those that can immediately contribute to overcoming certain challenges. One such is the drip irrigation practiced in West Khasi Hills of Meghalaya. Drip irrigation using local bamboo is a local ingenuity by way of which communities transport water to irrigate especially betel nut fields. This local innovation requires minimum supply of water and is practiced after the monsoon when water becomes scarce. Betel plants which are one of the major livelihood activities for local communities are irrigated and sustained in dry months using drip irrigation giving reason to believe that such traditional practices can be part of adaptation mechanisms to climate change.

In Darjeeling, we held dialogue with villagers living along the corridor between Singalila National Park and Senchel Wildlife Sanctuary. These villages practice typical hill agriculture and fields are rain fed. A variety of crops are planted ranging from maize, vegetables like cabbages, potatoes, squash, coriander and chillies. With regard to agriculture, climate change was found to be a mixed blessing. For negative impacts, the most common responses included overall lower productivity in agriculture, growth of new crop diseases and inability to grow winter vegetables. On the positive side, respondents talked about the ability to grow new crops. In one of the villages, the locals are now able to grow potatoes and coriander in winter which was not possible earlier. In another village, locals have started growing chillies enabled by what they think is warmer weather conditions. Vegetables such as squash and cabbage are now harvested earlier than they used to. Locals also explain that trees such as rhododendrons and magnolia are flowering earlier by almost two months.