Himalayan Agroecosystems Research Articles

Impact assessment of cold-adapted Pseudomonas jesenii MP1 and Pseudomonas palleroniana N26 on Phaseolus vulgaris yield and soil health

The poor agriculture practices, fragmented land holdings, fluctuating climatic conditions, and minimal external inputs lead to nutrient deficiency in the Himalayan agroecosystems. Because of the risks associated with chemical fertilizers, their implication is a big question mark. Therefore, two previously characterized plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria Pseudomonas jesenii MP1 and Pseudomonas palleroniana N26 were employed to enhance kidney bean productivity and soil health at farmer’s fields of Harsil and Chakrata regions of Uttarakhand Himalayas. The study revealed that MP1 and N26 treatment resulted in 25.62% and 37.23% higher grain yield than respective uninoculated controls at the trial fields of Harsil and Chakrata regions, respectively. Further, the bacterial treatments have significantly increased nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels in the soils. The soil diversity analysis revealed the dominance of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria at Harsil and Chakrata, respectively. Further, the MP1 treatment had increased Firmicutes percentage over uninoculated control at both locations. Conclusively, the application of cold adaptive Pseudomonas jesenii MP1 and Pseudomonas palleroniana N26 improved the grain yield and soil health status of the Himalayan agroecosystems. Therefore, they can be explored as an eco-friendly alternative for the commercial production of kidney beans.

Dry matter dynamics and CO2 mitigation in the herb layer of Central Himalayan agroecosystems along an altitudinal gradient, India

Dry matter dynamics and CO2 mitigation in the herb layer of Central Himalayan agroecosystems along an altitudinal gradient, India

Soil properties among Indian Central Himalayan agroecosystems as affected by altitude and size variations

The present study has been performed among Central Himalayan agroecosystems (AGEs) to analyze the changes in some physico- chemical properties of soils along four altitudes viz. very low (VLA), low (LA), mid (MA) and high altitude (HA). The AGEs were categorized into three size classes i.e. small, medium, and large based on the regional availability of landholding sizes. Results revealed that the size of the AGEs significantly affected only physical parameters of the soil while chemical parameters remain unaffected, this may be due to the regional similarity in management practices of AGEs which governed by the identical seasonal cropping patterns, local food selectivity and economic status of the peasant. The soil bulk density was recorded maximum at VLA (1.00 g cm-3) and decreased with increasing altitude and sizes of agroecosystem thus the correlations were significant. Water holding capacity depicted positive relation with porosity (r= 0.229, P<0.01) and OC (r= 0.273) while negative relation with silt (r= -0.172), bD (r= -0.221,) and pH (r= -0.081). Soil nitrogen was reported highest at MA in medium sized agroecosystems, during the rainy season (0.287 %) followed by winter (0.257 %) and summer season (0.243 %). Overall maximum soil carbon stock was observed at MA (41.41 t ha-1) > HA (37.85 t ha-1) > LA (33.00 t ha-1) > VLA (30.16 t ha-1). Suitable management practices of higher altitudes reflected as the high fertility of the soil in those regions (SQI= HA> MA> LA> VLA) which must be followed by the farm managers of lower altitudes.

Impact of farm yard manure on cropping cycle in a rainfed agroecosystem of Central Himalaya

Crops, livestock and forests are interlinked components of Central Himalayan agro-ecosystems. Traditionally, farm yard manure is produced from forest leaf litter and excreta of livestock obtaining > 50% feed from forests. Chemical fertilizers are not used in rainfed farms on slopes. Experiments were conducted to test whether increase in FYM input rates results improvement in economic and environmental functions of agro-ecosystems. Increase in FYM input rate from 30 t/ha/crop-season currently practiced by farmers to 60 t/ha/crop-season showed substantial increase in crop yield and soil quality. Rice and wheat were more responsive to FYM input than the legume black gram. Harvest index is maximum for 60 t/ha/crop-season FYM treatment for rice and wheat. In blackgram maximum harvest index was obtained when no FYM was provided. During the 3 years of study, soil pH decreased (becoming more acidic) as compared to that recorded at the start of the study. Soil organic carbon generally declined upto second kharif season and then improved during second rabi (fallow) under no input treatment, and 16t/ha/crop-season FYM treatment and levels of N, P and Mg too showed patterns similar to soil organic carbon, but the trends varied for Ca, Na and K. Soils of fields put to 0 and 16 t/ha/crop-season FYM treatments showed a net decrease in concentration of these elements and those put to 30 and 60 t/ha/crop-season FYM treatments showed increase in their level.

Macrofauna contributes to organic matter decomposition and soil quality in Himalayan agroecosystems, India

In agroecosystems, rich soil biodiversity performs a variety of ecological services and contributes to sustainability of agriculture. In spite of the vast knowledge on this subject globally, the Himalayan mountain agroecosystems remain almost unexplored, and the agriculture is practiced on a subsistence level in the desire of suitable soil fertility management practices. This study was conducted on the soil macrofauna community and its influence on litter decomposition, nutrient release and soil quality in rainfed wheat-paddy cropping systems in two major agroecosystems in the central Himalayan mountains. Following local farmers' practice, Oak leaf litter (agroecosystem-I) and Pine forests leaf litter (agroecosystem-II) were used for farm yard manure (FYM) preparation for soil fertility restoration. Control (traditional cropfields) and treatment (macrofauna excluded plots) were maintained in this study. In both the agroecosystems, 11 soil macrofauna groups were recorded across 0–30cm soil depths over an annual crop cycle. Total macrofauna density in the rhizosphere zone of agroecosystem-I was significantly greater (P<0.01) than in agroecosystem-II (2477 vs. 2241indm−2), and it was particularly significantly greater (P<0.01) in the top soil (0–10cm depth) of agroecosystem-I (2321 vs. 1877indm−2). With regards to macrofauna taxonomic groups and population density our study area falls in the middle range reported for the world (taxonomic groups=11-22; population density=1637–9500indm−2). Decomposition of the Oak and Pine leaf litter was significantly lower (P<0.01) in macrofauna-excluded litter bags in agroecosystem-I (63.4 vs. 49.4%) than in agroecosystem-II (44.4 vs. 29.2%). Levels of available nutrients (NO3-N,NH4-N, PO4-P and available K) were significantly higher in the soil of control plots than in treatment plots. This study concludes that soil macrofauna plays an important role in litter decomposition and soil quality maintenance, and recommends that nutrient rich Oak leaf litter should be preferred over Pine leaf litter to promote macrofauna diversity and abundance and soil quality enhancement in the rainfed farming of Central Himalaya.

Cold Stress and Nitrogen Deficiency Affected Protein Expression of Psychrotrophic Dyadobacter psychrophilus B2 and Pseudomonas jessenii MP1.

Nitrogen (N) deficiency and low temperature conditions are the prominent facet of Western Himalayan agro-ecosystems. A slight change in the environment alters the protein expression of the microorganisms. Therefore, proteomes of the two psychrotrophs Dyadobacter psychrophilus B2 and Pseudomonas jessenii MP1 were analyzed using two dimensional electrophoresis and MALDI–TOF–MS, to determine the physiological response of altitudinally different but indigenous microorganisms in response to cold stress under N depleting conditions. Functional assessment of 150 differentially expressed proteins from both the psychrotrophs revealed several mechanisms might be involved in cold stress adaptation, protein synthesis/modifications, energy metabolism, cell growth/maintenance, etc. In both the proteomes, abundance of the proteins related to energy production and stress were significantly increased while, proteins related to biosynthesis and energy consuming processes decreased. ATP synthase subunit alpha, beta, ATP-dependent Clp protease, Enolase, groL HtpG and N(2)-fixation sustaining protein CowN proteins were found to be expressed in both B2 and MP1, similarly to previously studied diazotrophs under low temperature N2 fixing conditions and therefore, can be considered as a biomarker for monitoring the nitrogen fixation in cold niches. Nevertheless, in both the diazotrophs, a good fraction of the proteins were related to hypothetical proteins which are still uncharacterized, thereby, suggesting the need for in-depth studies on cold adapted diazotrophs and their adaptive mechanisms.

Socio-Ecological and Religious Perspective of Agrobiodiversity Conservation: Issues, Concern and Priority for Sustainable Agriculture, Central Himalaya

A large section of the population (70%) of Uttarakhand largely depends upon agricultural based activities for their livelihood. Rural community of the mountains has developed several indigenous and traditional methods of farming to conserve the crop diversity and rejoice agrodiversity with religious and cultural vehemence. Traditional food items are prepared during occasion, festivals, weddings, and other religious rituals from diversified agrodiversity are a mean to maintain agrodiversity in the agriculture system. Agrodiversity is an insurance against disease and extreme climatic fluctuations, as a coping mechanism in times of scarcity, as a means to enhance overall productivity of farms, as a source of critical nutrition and medicine in the Himalayan region. The different traditional system of agriculture and indigenous method of maintaining soil fertility, socio-cultural and religious rituals has saved many crops that are under threatened category. But all these system and practices are ignored nauseatingly in hill agriculture policy, where more emphasis was given for plain areas. Less emphasis is being put on local systems that rely on existing natural, human, and social assets such as biodiversity, traditional knowledge, and social capital underpinning collective action to ensure food security. Of late, development planners have realized the importance of appropriate technologies and therefore have stressed the need for on-site training, and capacity building of user groups in rural areas of the region. Rural technology demonstration and training center have been supposed as a means disseminating technologies enabling improvement in the yield potential of farms, income generation from off-farm activities, and conservation and efficient use of natural resources. There is a strong need to bring desirable changes in the agricultural policy, research, and development in reference to mountainous regions. The present paper describe present scenario of agriculture, traditional, and socio-cultural practices of retaining soil fertility and agrodiversity, policy dimensions, and strategies for management of the Himalayan agroecosystems.

Communities and Their Agrobiodiversity

Poor scientific understanding of traditional farming systems and related socioeconomic issues seriously impede the identification of solutions for sustainable agricultural development in the Himalayan region. Traditional agrobiodiversity management plays a key role in coping with the uncertainties prevailing in the Himalaya. There is an urgent need to bring desirable changes in agricultural policy, research and development, land use and breeding approaches to mountainous regions. This paper describes the general characteristics of agrobiodiversity, its significance, status, rate of change and causal factors, ecological, social and policy dimensions and their impacts on agrobiodiversity loss and strategies for management of the Himalayan agroecosystems.

Energy and economic analysis of traditional versus introduced crops cultivation in the mountains of the Indian Himalayas: A case study

Abstract This study analyzed the energy and economics associated with cultivation of traditional and introduced crops in the mountains of the Central Himalaya, India. The production cost in terms of energy for introduced crops such as tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum ) and bell pepper ( Capsicum annuum ) cultivation was 90,358–320,516 MJ ha −1 as compared to between 19,814 and 42,380 MJ ha −1 for traditional crops within Himalayan agroecosystems. For the introduced crops, high energy and monetary input was associated with human labor, forest resources, chemical fertilizer and pesticides. However, energy threshold/projection for farmyard manure in traditional crop cultivation was 80–90% of the total energy cost, thus traditional crop cultivation was more efficient in energy and economics. During the study, the farm productivity of introduced crops cultivation declined with increasing years of cultivation. Consequently, the energy output from the system has been declining at the rate of − y 20,598 to y 20,748 MJ ha −1 yr −1 for tomato and y 12,072 to y 15,056 MJ ha −1 yr −1 for bell pepper under irrigated and rain-fed land use in the mountains, respectively. The comparative analysis on this paradigm shift indicates that more research is needed to support sustainable crop cultivation in the fragile Himalayan environment.

Changing scenario of Himalayan agroecosystems: loss of agrobiodiversity, an indicator of environmental change in Central Himalaya, India

Environmental, biological, socio-cultural and economic variations in the Himalayas have led to the evolution of diverse and unique traditional agroecosystems, crop species, and livestock, which help the traditional mountain farming societies to sustain themselves. During the recent past, as a result of rapid changes in land use caused by socio-cultural and economic changes and various environmental perturbations, the agrobiodiversity of the Central Himalayan agroecosystems has changed steadily. A recent survey conducted in 150 different villages located along an elevated transect of the Alaknanda catchment of the Central Himalaya revealed that over a period of two decades (1970–74 and 1990–94) the cultivated area under many traditional crops had declined significantly. A micro-level study carried out in 30 villages revealed that a series of changes had occurred in land use practices over a period of 25–30 years. The loss of agrobiodiversity and the changing socio-cultural and economic dimensions and their impacts on the sustainability of Himalayan agroecosystems are emerging as major causes of concern at local/regional/national scale, and appropriate options to meet these challenges are discussed in this paper.

Traditional crop diversity for sustainable development of Central Himalayan agroecosystems

SUMMARY A rich diversity of traditional crops occurs generally in the Himalaya and more particularly in Central Himalaya. Over forty species of food grains are grown in traditional agroecosystems of Central Himalaya, which have been managed by the local farming communities since time immemorial. These traditional crop varieties have evolved over centuries and are well adapted to the particular area. A number of edaphic, topographic and climatic factors associated with different selection pressures over centuries of cultivation resulted in immense variations in the crop species. The grain and by-product yield of the majority of the traditional crops cultivated across an altitudinal gradient were worked out and compared with common food crops (paddy, wheat, mustard) at two points in time (1970-74, 1990–94) and it was found that almost all the traditional crops had slightly higher yields during 1970–74 than between 1990–94. However, common food crops grown during the Kharif season had higher yields during 1990–94 whereas, Rabi season crops exhibited higher yield during 1970–74. The yield of rainfed paddy remained static over the years across the altitudinal gradient. Among the traditional crops cultivated during the Kharif and Rabi seasons in mixed and pure forms at different altitudes were Macrotyloma uniforum (at higher altitude), Parilla frutescens and Vigna mungo (at middle altitude) and Panicum miliaceum (at lower altitude) which were found to be eco-energetically efficient. Avena sativa (oat) and mixed cropping of Fagopyrum esculentum and potato had higher energy efficiency ratios whereas the latter also exhibited a higher monetary output/input ratio. Crops like paddy and wheat with mustard, grown in irrigated land were found to be more eco-energetically efficient than the same crops grown in the rainfed land. In general, traditional crops possess higher nutritive value than the common food crops. The contribution of traditional crops to the local diet (kg/capita/year) and their energy and protein equivalents were higher during both time periods. It was observed that while exporting these traditional crops, the locals of the region are highly exploited by middlemen. Despite having huge potential, traditional crop diversity of this region has been reduced to a great extent during the last two decades. Besides, the area under cultivation with these crops has been declining rapidly. However, many of these crops possess immense potential to meet the growing food demand and ensure food security of an increasing population. Therefore, a comprehensive programme of conservation through various means and improvement of agronomic yield in their natural habitats is urgently needed.