Deep Roots

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increase in the recent past. Earlier, everything was managed

through local resources or farm produce. Only salt and

sugar had to be sourced from other places. The changing

consumption pattern became market dependent. This new

trend brought the loss of essential micronutrients leading

to several physiological disorders.

This interdependence pattern of forest agriculture

and animal husbandry is peculiar to the family farms of

Himalaya. Strategies must be targeted to make mountain

farms sustainable. It is important to support these farms

through a variety of inputs in the form of nutritionally rich,

climate-suitable crops with back-end assistance for post-

harvest, and to develop market intelligence for the farmers’

specific produce.

Family farming can only be lifted when all interlink-

ing factors are also involved in the development process,

where tradition and new knowledge are amalgamated. It

must be given essential inputs to take it from subsistence

to surplus, from nutritional deficit to nutritionally secure,

and from uneconomic to viable. All age-old practices that

exist within a family farm need to be improved. Crop selec-

tion, varietal cultivation and other inputs must be given

with due respect to ecosystem relevance. Fruit yards and

vegetable yards can offer supplementary food and nutri-

tion for local consumption. The traditional practice, where

marginal farmers grow fruit and vegetables in their back

yards, needs to be improved with better agronomic inputs.

The forest can be recuperated through family or commu-

nity forestry with indigenous species. Besides large cattle,

poultry and goats will enhance farm income. The promo-

tion of beekeeping will not only be useful for honey, but

will play an equally important role in cross-pollination to

maintain diversity.

Similarly, family farming has to be integrated with post-

harvest services. On many occasions surplus produce is

lost, but this can be preserved and processed both for local

consumption off-season and for marketing.

There are two other important inputs that need to be

linked with family farms. A common facility centre (CFC)

for farmers will be the first important step. Since small and

marginal farmers do not have access to public services, a

local-level CFC can serve this purpose. These CFCs should

be equipped with all necessary farm services and machines.

Different regional agri-horticultural research institutes

must be linked with such CFCs for agriservices related to

new knowledge and tools.

Since small and marginal farmers are large in number and

are remotely located, a network strategy involving financial

institutes, civil society and research organizations can help

reach them with new knowledge. A collective effort can

take the mountain family farm from subsistence to surplus

to sustainable.

Ecological variability enables rich crop diversity on Himalayan mountain farms, with a variety of climate-specific crop species enriching different altitudes

Image: HESCO

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