Agricultural Practices in Northeast India and Options for Sustainable Management

Abstract

The north east part of India has seven states comprising an area of 255,083 km2 with hills, valley and plateau. This region is inhabited by 100 major tribes and immigrant communities. Due to topographical and environmental conditions this region is rich in biodiversity and is one of the hot spots of the world. Altitude ranges from 150 to 7,300 m a.s.l and temperature varies from freezing point to 37°C. Mostly tribal people and immigrant communities depends on farming and forest products for their food and livelihood. Local people have been maintaining traditional agricultural practices, agro-biodiversity and knowledge. Generally farmers practice jhum or shifting agricultural system with other sedentary agricultural practices. About 400,000 families practice jhum cultivation covering land area approximately 386,300 ha annually. Other agricultural system are wet rice cultivation which is practiced in valley land and Aji system where rice and millet are cultivated with fish in deep water. In valley land mono cropping as well as mixed cropping is practiced by farmers. Terrace land cultivation system introduced by government could not get wide acceptability by farmers due to high input of labour and fertilizers. Farmers also have cultivation systems such as homegardens and agroforestry that link their families to the forest ecosystem. Recently government and non governmental organization have introduced agri-horti-silvipastoral system for good harvest and yield. The population density of the region is 324 person per km2 that is lower than the whole country. However, the growth rate during 1991–2001 has been recorded 31.2 person/km2, which is higher than the national rate of 21.4 person/km2. If population growth continues at this rate then a serious threat may occur to the sustainability of agroecosystem and rich biodiversity of the region. An attempt is made here to focus on agricultural practices, their productive capability and viable sustainable land use strategies for people of the region.