Traditional crops as source of Agri-Entrepreneurship in Chakrata block of Dehradun District (Uttarakhand)

Introduction

Due to non-irrigation of agricultural land in hilly areas of Uttarakhand, crop production is low in most of the areas. Because of which it has a bad effect on the livelihood and people used to migrate from hilly areas for employment. But due to the use of modern technology of agricultural, now people are adopting farming system and earn money. Crop production system need to be modified to decrease the impact of crop production on the environment and for sustaining heightened levels of food production [1]. All living beings require energy and we get energy from various foods. For its supply, man has been dependent on plants since time immemorial. Keeping in view the high production and quality, man is using modern agricultural techniques. As a result of which man is producing desired crops. Agriculture is a key activity of human being since it provides basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter. It has been demonstrated that every 1% increase in agricultural yield translates into a 0.6–1.2% decrease in the numbers of absolute poor house- holds in the world [2]. In an agricultural sense, soil is simply the medium in which most of our food is grown, as well as the food we provide for livestock. The sustainable intensification of agriculture through technologies that rely on substantial investment in inputs has been seriously hampered by poorly developed input and output markets [3]. Reliable forecasts at higher spatial resolution help explain yield variability at coarser levels and also provide information to adapt agricultural policies to more specific areas [4]. The main objective of this study is to find out the actual production of various crops and the income received from them in the hilly areas of Uttarakhand state. So that new techniques can be developed for more production of crops and stop migration.

Material and Methods

Ten villages i.e. Fanaar, Chousal, Bastil, Booth, Atal, Anu, Mundhol, Raddu, Raigi and Bagi and ten families from each village were selected for present investigation. Each village was visited in different seasons regarding per year crop production and income received from them. The centre of the survey was made at the Department of Botany and Commerce, Veer Shaheed Keshari Chand Government Post Graduate College, Dakpathar, Dehradun. A special team of experienced workers was formed for the survey, which was regulated and controlled by experts appointed at the centre. A questionnaire was made to get concrete information, under which about 35 questions were asked. The main questions like local name of the crop, sowing and harvesting time, total production and income from each crops etc. were asked. The survey team was visited during harvesting time of crops. Each selected family was provided with a questionnaire and asked to submit it within 20 days. After collecting questionnaire from selected villages, all data tabulated and analysed statistically. Different crops seeds were also collected as samples during survey for further investigation. This investigation ran for almost a year.

Results and Discussion

The production rate of crops and the income received from them have been shown in Table-1. In places where the temperature was low, more production of apple, peas, walnuts and kidney beans was recorded, while in places with low temperature, the production of crops like tomato, capsicum, cabbage and peas etc. was recorded. On the basis of average production rate per 10 families, maximum 25 quintals of apple production was recorded in Fannar, Booth and Anu villages. In all the surveyed villages, the production of apple and peas was recorded higher than other crops. In the villages where tomato is cultivated, the production rate was recorded almost the same. The production rate of walnut was low in all villages in comparison to other crops.

Similarity was observed in the production rate of crops in most of the villages. But inequality was noticed in the income received from them. The main reason for this is that the rates of crops were fixed according to the villagers. The highest production rate of tomato was recorded in Anu village at 25 quintals, while the income from tomatoes also showed variation in others villages. On an average, Fannar, Booth and Anu villages received maximum Rs. 2.5 lacks rupees from apple crop, while the villagers of Mundaul and Raddu villages have received the lowest amount of Rs 2.0 thousand rupees from walnut crop. The average production rate per 10 families from various crops and the average income received from production are shown in Fig. 1 in all the surveyed villages. If we look at the total average production rate of different crops per 10 families of each village and the income received from crops, the highest average production of 59.7 quintals was recorded in Raddu village. While the highest average income was recorded in Fannar village at Rs.3.59 lacks. The production rate and income of crops were recorded almost same in Fannar, Chausal and Bastil villages. Compared to other villages, the lowest production of 16.5 quintals and income of Rs 2.6 (lack) was recorded in Anu village. Various types of crops are mainly produced commercially in Chakrata block block. The crops which are grown prominently are shown in Table- 2. Altogether 21 cash crops belong to 12 families are produced in different villages of the region. Apple and Rajma dal of this region are very famous all over the country. The cultivators here are earning very good profits in every season from different crops. Soil plays a significant role to provide nutrients and promote more production of various crops. Peoples are using organic farming system in hills to maintained mineral contents. While nitrogen fertilizer can increase corn yield and soil organic carbon levels, over-fertilization adds more nitrogen to the soil than can be broken down via natural biogeochemical processing [5]. Therefore, maintaining sustainable yields will require proper management of soil organic matter reserves. Organic matter is directly linked to soil moisture and so the similarity in trends between these two variables is not unexpected [6]. Low production of crops is serious issue in hills due to the disturbance of geochemical cycle. It is observed that sometimes it does not rain on time. Therefore, sometimes cultivated crops totally damaged and low production rate obtained. As a consequence, less of the crop produce is directly used for human consumption and more cereal-based products are needed for feeding the growing animal industry [7]. Due to more fertile soil in most places, an increase in the production rate of crops was recorded, while the place where the quality of the soil was low, there was a decrease in the production rate. Stork and Eggleton [8], Blanchart [9] has also observed that analyzing physical and chemical soil characteristics is one way of understanding soil health; however macro invertebrates and nematodes are also excellent indicators of soil quality and plant productivity. These crop landraces have developed mostly in environments with low nutrient availability and represent a potential source of a genetic variation for breeding to varieties adapted to poor soil nutrient status [10]. People in hilly areas use pure organic farming but production depends on rain. Schipanski [11] suggested that when struggling with rising functioning costs and fluctuating prices in the face of large-scale conventional agriculture, farmers are often forced or choose to forgo sustainable options and make decisions based on short-term profitability. Stress the importance of developing general principles, like best farming practices, saving land and a zero carbon balance, in developing guidelines for certifying biodiversity-friendly agricultural practices [12]. Farmers have to make hard decisions, balancing economic realities with sustainability and definite short-term gains with possible long-term losses. Crops, with their own resource demands impacted by weather and management, find the soil in one condition, and leave it in another condition for the next crop [13]. It has been suggested that nitrate levels are susceptible to climatic variation. Specifically, they tend to be higher under drought conditions and lower under conditions of high rainfall [14].

Conclusion

There are no means of irrigation in the hilly areas of Uttarakhand state. The farming system here is based on rain; even then the local people work hard on agriculture and earn good income throughout the year. Bhabar area of ​Chakrata block of Dehradun district is an example in itself where local people are earning good profits from different crops throughout the year. The local people of Bhabar region are becoming self-dependent along with promoting agriculture by producing different types of cash crops. This area is also a source of inspiration for people migrating from Uttarakhand. Apples, walnuts, Pea, kidney beans etc. of this region are famous in different regions of the country. The main feature of this area is that the people here live in joint family. Due to which there is no shortage of human resources. In the absence of modern agricultural machinery, the production of crops is being adversely affected. It is necessary that the government should encourage the farmers here and provide agricultural machinery at cheap rates, so that the economy of the farmers here can be strengthened.