Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Land abandonment
Changes in the cropping pattern can be noticed because of land abandonment.
In the lower elevations and along the roads, land abandonment is due to
large-scale transformation of cultivable land for commercial uses. In the
highlands, land abandonment is basically due to mass emigration of the
populace to the urban centres (Fig. 12.3C). It was noticed that households
earning money through remittances, also abandon their agriculture land.
Conclusions
Land-use/cover changes over a period, is very common phenomenon
in mountain regions. In the Kewer Gadhera sub-watershed, tremendous
changes in land use/cover have occurred during the last decades. These
changes have a tremendous impact on the agro-biodiversity of the region.
Changes in the cropping pattern seem that farmers substantially benefi t
by replacing traditional food crops into cash crops but at the cost of
increased vulnerability to climatic and market uncertainties. Abandonment
of traditional crops means a loss of agro-biodiversity that remains 'lesser
known' or 'unknown' to wider communities and associated indigenous
technologies and knowledge. Expansion of agriculture on marginal land and
declining crop yields are considered to be major unsustainable trends in the
Himalaya (Eckholm 1979, Jodha 1990). Adaptive responses to stress factors
by farmers played a signifi cant role in evolution of traditional agriculture in
the past when farming was the only option for securing livelihood. In the
present circumstances, it often becomes more cost effective for the farmers
to fi nd employment than to spend his costly and scarce resources for
rehabilitating the land of low productivity (Turner 1982). As at present, 40%
of the total reported area is classifi ed as pasture land, cultivable wasteland
and fallow land, besides, a signifi cant acreage of land classifi ed as forestland
(65%) in the study area. A cultivable wasteland may have potential for the
development of vegetables (Singh 1991). Similarly, the abandoned land
can be utilized for horticulture. With increasing needs as well as pressure
of population, the traditional farming has become unsustainable both
economically and ecologically (ICIMOD 1996).
Land-use pattern is typical in the Kewer Gadhera sub-watershed.
Landscape is characterized by steep and precipitous slope. Therefore,
agriculture is practiced on the narrow patches of terraced fi elds and
agricultural land is limited (41.10%). The fertility of soil is considerably low
because every year the upper layers of soil are eroded due to heavy rain
and as well as by agricultural and other development activities. Over use
of agricultural land resulted in low production and low per ha yield. The
scope of expansion and modernization of agriculture is also limited. This
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