Deep Roots

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and the manure thus produced is applied to agricultural fields.

It clearly exhibits that in traditional family farming, agriculture

and livestock are managed in an integral way. Local livelihoods

also depend on use of diverse natural resources, particularly

non-timber forest products extracted from surrounding forests,

and they are able to enhance their livelihoods by selling raw and

value-added products in local markets.

Soil fertility and water management

In traditional family farming systems the use of fertilizers and

irrigation inputs are minimal, as most of the crop fields are

rain-fed. Farmers adopt various indigenous practices to main-

tain soil fertility and conserve in-situ moisture in crop fields.

In normal cultivation rain-fed crop fields are tilled twice and

irrigated fields three times before seed sowing. Reduced tillage

(geometry, frequency and depth), mulching of leaf litter and

cultivation of drought-resistant crops are some prevalent

measures to cope up with the problem of soil moisture and

soil fertility.

Also, relay cropping, maintenance of crop field

bunds, soaking seeds overnight in water to improve germina-

tion and micro-irrigation are some indigenous techniques for

in-situ soil moisture conservation in the crop fields.

There is a

need to include traditional practices and knowledge of soil and

water conservation in policies and programmes for promoting

sustainable agriculture in the Himalayan region. In recent years,

drip irrigation and fertigation have also been promoted by

government agencies and research and development institutes.

Social protection

In the majority of areas family farming leads to a subsistence

economy. However it is most sustainable, as various farming

practices are maintained for centuries despite the fact they are

less profitable, with little change in crops and cropping patterns.

Unfortunately, subsistence is seen in economic terms rather

than in ecological terms. Family farming has more adaptability

and resilience as it is predominately practised in rain-fed condi-

tions with suitable species for different elevations and land use

types; it supports a high degree of plant diversity with a good

mix of nitrogen-fixing and pollinator-supporting species. There

is considerable community wisdom around the crops and skills

with strong community bonding, which minimizes crop failure

with drought-tolerant varieties and maintains greater topsoil,

moisture, and stable and diverse production.

Environmental well-being

Family farming is more resource-conserving than large farms.

Smallholders maintain few resources but more efficiently. They

earn more profit per unit of output and are thus more profitable

and more productive, since all parts of the plant are used either

as food or forage for animals. In family farming the farmers take

better care of natural resources including soil erosion control

and biodiversity conservation. Land, soil, landscape and water

resources are thus maintained in an environmentally sustain-

able way that is passed from one generation to another. In

comparison with industrial agriculture which leads to more

greenhouse gas emissions, traditional family farming and

small farms are organic, and this helps immensely in carbon

sequestration and disease control. Smallholders’ knowledge of

resource management, biodiversity conservation, environmen-

tal monitoring and coping with environmental variability and

crisis can help form a good foundation for developing local

communities, livelihoods and cultures.

Mix-cropping and associated farming practices not only

maximize benefits to smallholders, it also supports pollination

friendly/supportive practices. As the integrity and sustainabil-

ity of many agroecosystems is under threat due to intensive

land use change, market forces and contemporary demands,

there is an increasing demand for managed bee pollination.

This can be seen in apple orchards in Himachal Pradesh,

mustard fields in Uttrakkhand and large cardamom in Sikkim

state. These examples indicate that pollination management

(availability and abundance of pollinators) can be regarded

as a production factor for all the pollination-dependent crops

grown over a year, as it can affect the agronomic yield and

its many components such as fruit and seed set and quality.

Challenges to family farming

Lately, many of the traditional practices in family farming are

under stress for various reasons.

Improvisation in small and

fragmented holdings is a big challenge, which often makes such

farming systems more vulnerable than commercial practices.

Because of fragility, marginality and inaccessibility, many farmers

are constrained to abandon their tiny terraces. Also, there are

inadequate technical extension services for smallholders. Due to

high input costs the younger generation shows a negative attitude

to continuing subsistence agriculture. Thus farmers’ wisdom and

the communal harmony that helps manage agricultural resources

is weakening. Globalization, climate change, frequent flood and

drought, weak linkages with markets, sociocultural transforma-

tion, changes in food habits and poor resilience/adaptive capacity

among farmers also play an important role in drawing marginal

farmers away from farming activities. Many of them migrate to

nearby towns in search of alternative employment, leading to the

abandonment of their houses and agricultural fields.

Agrobiodiversity and agroecosystem diversification must be

viewed as mechanisms to cope with environmental heterogene-

Rice-fish cultivation in the Apatani valley, north-east India

Image: G.B. Pant Institute

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