Winter Farming in hills : Dew drop and frost harvesting is one of the keys to success.

                                                                                                           

 

People living in the hills of the North eastern part of India has the habit of growing their own local food amidst all the hardship they have in reference to the mountainous topography. They maintain their local food wisdom by keeping their diet to all the indigenous edible crops that grows in this part of the world. The change in the environmental factors is now making the farmers of the region face many challenges in the process of growing own food. These challenges has to be credited to all the deforestation, every year shift of land for farming, industrialization, and natural calamities, farmers are now finding it difficult to grow their crops with the major problem of Water Scarcity. The farming here is totally rain fed and installation of micro irrigation system is also a challenge due to the topography and scarcity of permanent water source. In winter months it is more difficult as people have to think even for the drinking water and for their house-hold activities. Animal rearing is becoming more difficult.

This water shortage is leading to change in the food habit. People who are food producers are becoming food purchaser. The nutritious local food habit the people used to have is turning to some food items produced through industrial agriculture. Farmers are migrating out of the villages as they cannot make profit in farming. The rich culture of the villages are in stake as the youths are preferring to move out of the villages. Technologies are being pumped in but adaptability of the technologies to the local conditions and the topography is a big question mark.

Working for last three days creating Paangkhriang Friendship School Nutrition Garden in the beautiful village of Ijeirong in Noney district of Manipur, I realized nature has solutions to all the challenges it gives to mankind. I am putting my whole energy to think about the solution to the big water shortage that this beautiful garden created by school children and youths will face in this coming winter. I don’t want them to surrender in front of a challenge and rather develop their attitude to explore Nature to find out an answer developing their problem solving attitude. This quest of mine to find a solution led me to explore nature and while walking in the grass early morning, I found a solution in the form of Dew drops. My whole leg was wet and saw the thatch grasses in the road sides with so much of water retention. Now the idea to bring the thatch grasses cut without the roots and mulch them in our bio intensive raised beds will help us to harvest lots of dew drops and fog in the mulch zone sufficient to feed our crops in the morning. Already we are creating Bio intensive raised beds in the slopes and terraces with compost and bio char to improve the water holding capacity of the soil.

 Lots of Poly houses are being promoted now in the region through different initiatives which has a fixed Ultra Violet film roof, which I feel should be with the option of removing during the winter months. Shade net house for the shade loving plants are better for this region. In the school garden we are observing difference in the water retention in the beds inside the poly house and the beds in the open. Open beds in winter months are better.

Nature nurtures Future. It gives us challenges but also solutions nearby. We should seek to nature for solutions as Natural solutions are best and friendly to the small and the marginal farmers.