citrus fruits – Meghalaya PCS Free Notes

Agriculture in Meghalaya

Meghalaya is basically an agricultural state with about 80% of its population depending entirely on agriculture for their livelihood. Nearly 10% of the geographical area of Meghalaya is under cultivation. Agriculture in the state is characterised by limited use of modern techniques, low yields and low productivity. As a result, despite the vast majority of the population being engaged in agriculture, the contribution of agricultural production to the state’s GDP is low, and most of the population engaged in agriculture remain poor. A portion of the cultivated area is under the traditional shifting agriculture known locally as Jhum cultivation. Agriculture in Meghalaya

Meghalaya produced 230,000 tonnes of food grains in 2001. Rice is the dominant food grain crop accounting for over 80% of the food grain production in the state. Other important food grain crops are maize, wheat and a few other cereals and pulses. Besides these, potato, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, areca nut, tezpatta, betelvine, short-staple cotton, jute, mesta, mustard and rapeseed etc. are some of the important cash crops. Besides the major food crops of rice and maize, the state is renowned for its horticultural crops like orange, lemon, pineapple, guava, litchi, banana, jack fruits and fruits such as plum, pear and peach.

Oilseeds such as rapeseed, mustard, linseed, soybean, castor and sesame are grown on nearly 100 km2 (39 sq mi). Rape and mustard are the most important oilseeds accounting for well over two-thirds of the oilseed production of nearly 6.5 thousand tonnes. Fibre crops such as cotton, jute and mesta are among the only cash crops in Meghalaya, grown in Garo Hills.These have been losing popularity in recent years as indicated by their declining yield and area under cultivation.

Climatic conditions in Meghalaya permit a large variety of horticulture crops including fruits, vegetables, flowers, spices, mushrooms and medicinal plants.These are considered to be higher value crops, but home food security concerns have prevented farmers at large from embracing them. The important fruits grown include citrus fruits, pineapples, papayas, and bananas. In addition to this, a large variety of vegetables are grown in the state, including cauliflower, cabbages and radishes.

Shifting cultivation

Shifting cultivation or slash and burn agriculture is the most prevalent form of agricultural practice of the ethnic people and is commonly called Jhum or Swidden cultivation, which is one of the most ancient systems of farming believed to have originated in the Neolithic period around 7000 B C. This system is a primitive cultivation technique and is transition between food gathering and hunting to food production. The system of farming is still in vogue in Meghalaya as well as whole northeast Himalayan region. About 350,000 people practice shifting cultivation on about 4,160 km² of unsurveyed land. Shifting cultivation is a very wide term covering a number of very different forms of land use, its essential feature beings that the land is cleared and agricultural crops are grown for a limited period, which may range from one to over ten years, after which the cultivation is moved to a new site. The cultivators may or may not intend to return to the old site after the fertility of the soil has recovered.

The practice of shifting cultivation is short and has a variable fallow period. In general, hill people who live in tropical region practice shifting cultivation. After a piece of land is selected, trees or bushes are cut down partially or fully, left to dry and then burnt in situ. In the cleared land, seeds of crops are dibbled into holes or broadcast, without using ploughs or animal power. When the crop yield begins to decrease after some years, the cultivator moves to a new patch of forest to repeat the process, and allows the abandoned land to recuperate. After a period varying from 2-20 yrs, they return to the same land for cultivation. At present the duration of the fallow cycle has been reduced to 3 – 5 yrs in most of the northeastern states of India, this may be due to overwhelming pressure on land.

Shifting cultivation is the most primitive form of cultivation of agricultural crops. This practice has continued for thousands of years and stood the test of time. This practice has an in-built mechanism of sustenance and conservation. However, due to anthropogenic pressure on land use for shifting cultivation adversely affecting eco-restoration and ecological process of forests. This leads to degradation of land causing soil erosion and finally converting forests into wastelands. Shifting cultivation is mostly practiced in community forests of Meghalaya. In the state, the village council commonly called Dorbar Shnong owns the land, and allots the forestland for cultivation. The main interest of the cultivators is to produce almost everything that they need to fulfill their requirement.

Terrace or Bun cultivation

Bun cultivation on hill slopes and valleys is a settled cultivation system being practiced for last three decades, to provide improved production system, to conserve soil moisture and also to prevent land degradation and soil erosion. In this system, bench terraces are constructed on hill slopes running across the slopes. The space between two buns is leveled using cut and hill method. The vertical interval between the terraces is not usually more than one metre. Such measures help to prevent soil erosion and retaining maximum rainwater within the slopes and safely disposing off the excess runoff from the slopes to the foothills.

Cropping pattern of Meghalaya

Meghalaya is predominantly an agrarian state where majority of population live in rural areas. Traditional shifting or slash-and-burn cultivation (locally known as ‘Jhum’) is a primitive method of agriculture, largely practised by the hill tribes, major residents of the Garo Hills region of Meghalaya, is not only a source of livelihood for them but is also a culture, weaning away from which is difficult, if not impossible. Since ‘Jhum’ is unsustainable it is time that there is some basic diversification in the agriculture of the state which may be in any one sector or across some of the sub-sectors of agriculture.

Crop diversification provides efficient use of farm inputs and contributes to a strong rural economy. Based on several micro level studies, it is argued that diversification could be a tool to augment farm income, generate employment, alleviate poverty and ensure environmental safety.

Meghalaya’s cropping pattern was rice/cereal dominated, but by 2006, there had been a decline in the relative share of total paddy in the state’s gross cropped.area. Intra paddy variation tells us that both winter paddy and autumn paddy lost area to spring paddy. Though there was a declining trend in cereal (except other cereals and small millets) including paddy, area under pulses showed rising trend. Total food grains showed a declining trend. Percentage share of area of total oilseeds to its GCA remained almost constant over the period of study and relative area share of vegetables had gone up marginally over the period of study; Percentage share of area under total fibre (jute, mesta, cotton) had gone down whereas total fruits have gained area. Area under condiments and spices and field crops had increased. Though absolute area under plantation crop had increased, in terms of relative share, there had been a decline in area under plantation crop. Gross cropped area in the state has gone up by 8.85 percent over a period of three decades i.e., the reference period under study.

West Garo Hills cropping pattern is food grain dominated, though share of area under total food grain is on the decline. Area under Jhum paddy, has been declining in all the blocks of West Garo Hills due to diversification and replacement by other high value crops like arecanut, cashew nut, citrus fruits, black pepper etc. Wheat is also losing area continuously since 1977.

There is a downward movement in absolute area occupied by maize, but relative area allocation under maize shows an upward trend. Area under total pulses was almost double in 30 years and there has been a rise in area under other cereals and small millets also. Area under total oil seed is almost constant, though area under sesame and rape and mustard both had gone up since 1977.