Energy and Economic Efficiency of the Mountain Farming System: A Case Study in the North-Western Himalaya

Abstract

ABSTRACT The State of Himachal Pradesh in the north-western Indian Himalaya is distinguished for integration of profit-oriented horticulture and use of modern yield-increasing inputs in the traditional, subsistence-economy-centered agriculture in the recent past. Farming systems in the two neighboring villages of the State were analysed. The average land holding was 0.84 ha split into two distant plots, one in the upland and the other in the valley. A high level of crop diversity (14 rainy season crops and 3 winter season crops) was maintained by rotation of crops in time and space on small fields, together with coexistence of mixed and monocropping practices. Upland, terraced agroecosystems were more diversified, as well as efficient in terms of energy and monetary rates of return, than the valley agroecosystems. Potatoes showed the highest energy and monetary output:input ratio. Mixed cropping was not as dominant as monocropping. Following the introduction of apples in the croplands, rates of return declined after 5 years of tree growth until 15 years, and subsequently increased. Both energy and monetary output: input ratios of a 25-year-old apple plantation, where crops were not grown at all, were much higher than those of agroecosystems. Policies encouraging use of inorganic fertilizers, high-yielding varieties of wheat, and apple cultivation followed land-use intensification in upland rainfed fanning, reduction in crop diversity, and more intensive use of and pressure on forests, along with substantial cash income to the farmers. Implications of the policy-induced changes in traditional farming are discussed.