Horticultural Development in Hills ; A Case for the Alaknanda Basin, Uttaranchal

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This book is of great value in the field of fruit cultivation and its development in the mountainous area particularly in the Alaknanda Basin of Uttaranchal Himalaya. The study deals with the present potential of horticulture under the presence of favourable geographical conditions. The contribution of the governmental agencies and people's interest towards its cultivation is also elaborated in this book.

The basin is divided into different fruit zones according to climatic conditions, soil texture, ample water supply and uses of modern technology. Research and technology in the field of fruit cultivation are discussed in detail. A broadbased conclusion has been done after the study and suggestions have been made for the steady development of the hilly terrain.

VISHWAMBHAR PRASAD SATI (b. 1966) did M. A. in Geography with First Class from Garhwal University, Srinagar, Garhwal, Uttranchal, in 1989 and obtained a doctorate in 1992. From 1989 to 1992, he worked as 'Field Investigator' in a project funded by Department of Forest and Environment, Government of Uttar Pradesh and qualified in the 'National Eligibility Test (NET)'. In 1993-94 he was Research Fellow in the Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development. In 1994, the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission selected him as an Assistant Professor of Geography. He has published more than 50 research articles in national and international journals and newspapers. He is corresponding member of International Geographical Union (IGU) and Life Member of many other research societies and has participated in a number of national and international seminars, symposia and workshops. He has also organised a national seminar. Presently, he is working on three major projects: Project Director of ICSSR-funded project, Principal Investigator of UGC-funded major project, Principal Investigator of MP Council of Science and Technology- funded project. He has already- completed one project. He has published six books on different aspects of environment and development. In 2000, he presented a research paper at the 29th Session of International Geography Congress in Seoul (Korea) where he chaired the session on 'Contradictions between Economic Development and Environmental Management'. In 2002, he presented a research paper in the International Geographical Union Regional Congress, Durban, South Africa.

Mountains are the main sources of rivers, natural vegetation, wild life, and many other resources human as well as natural. In India, Young Himalayan Mountain System is the main source for supplying ample water to the plains through the huge rivers and their tributaries, particularly, the Uttaranchal Himalaya. This land is the source of the holy Ganga and Yamuna rivers. Even though, the people and area is fully underdeveloped and they are struggling for one time meal.

The resources of the Himalaya remains unutilized partially due to its fragility and partially due to lack of rational planning. Agriculture and women are known the backbone of the economy of the region. The traditional practice of agriculture represents low production and low quality of crops; therefore, the rate of people's migration towards the tarai and plains is remarkable. Further, lacking in the infra- structural facilities, the entire region is economically and industrially backward.

Despite half a century of development interventions in the mountains, the people in the mountains continue to find themselves in a 'poverty trap'. Within the mountain context, the land holdings are too small and the ecological variability and diversity too huge. However, research hasn't addressed the core issue of providing inputs that may help the subsistence farmer secure livelihoods within the given ecological limits. This has been so because research has been largely sectoral - failing to view and address the issue of sustainability in totality and harness the ecological distinction in the mountains to its economic advantage. Further, agricultural research and development in the mountain has been an extension of lowland technologies, which were neither ecologically suited nor economically viable for the subsistence farming system in the mountains. Unless mountain farming emerges as a distinct discipline within the agriculture research system and the traditional researchers are made to go through necessary 'change', research will fail to cater to the needs of the mountain farmers.

The ecological and geographical conditions are quite suitable for the development of horticulture including fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs. The trend of developing horticulture is needed to be introduced in a quite suitable manner. This practice will lead the economic sustainability on the one hand, and environmental restoration on the other. This study will help to the researchers, farmers, administrators, academicians, and politicians to know better about the region and it will manifest a way for transformation of traditional crops fields into horticultural fields.

The present study is the result of the guidance given by Dr. Kamlesh Kumar, Professor of Geography, and I extend my great acknowledgement to him. I acknowledge my family members for providing me immense love and cooperation during this work particularly, my wife Nirmala (M.Sc.), Sister Usha (M.Sc.) and little loving Vishwani. In the last but note the least, I dedicate this book in the memory of my father late Shri Shiv Dutt Sati and for those who dedicated their life for the cause of development of mountains.

Development is the catch term of the third world countries, because of underdeveloped resources, low production, and growing regional imbalances. There is a urge for rapid modernization and higher standard of living to which low economic return is impediment. In the race of development, areas having more favourable geographical conditions, rich cultural heritage, and rational planning under able leadership have yielded hopeful results in the economic transformation and became the pioneer. In the other areas, having similar geographical conditions, development of similar economy is considered to be the most convenient path to be adopted.

In the mountainous regions, undulating terrain constitutes most fragile elements of the ecosystem. Traditional economy rests on terrace cultivation with extremely limited viability to expansion and modernization. Consequently, low economic return remains the characteristic feature of the agrarian landscape. It is the common experience that the ecological conditions of mountains are more suited to fruit cultivation rather than cereal farming. Most of the European countries, Mediterranean in particular, have exhibited this fact with their monopolized fruit production and its share in their national economy. In India, Himalaya mountain located within the tropical regime is endowed with the highly heterogeneous temperate environment representing various shades of European temperate conditions. The Western Himalaya represented by Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Predesh states has earned recognition in fruits production while, the process of horticultural development is slowly operating in the Uttaranchal Himalaya. The present study aims at evaluating the development of horticulture in the Alaknanda Basin.

**Contents and Sample Pages**