By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 26 Sep: “The entire Himalaya is a mirror of agro-ecology. This vibrant food civilisation can be made successful only by conserving biodiversity. This success will prove to be a milestone in the direction of food sovereignty along with sustainable increase in the livelihood of farmers.” This was said by Dr VB Mathur, former Chairman of Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and Director of WII, today.
He was speaking as the Chief Guest at the “Meeting of Stakeholders of Uttarakhand on Agroecology” at a local hotel. On this occasion, the scientists, administrators, farmers and representatives of voluntary organisations shared their valuable experiences and views.
Dr VB Mathur said that, today, insecurity is coming to the fore in its monstrous form; the solution to this problem lies in saving agricultural biodiversity. He said that the demand for Himalayan agricultural products is increasing, but the vitality of farming is falling in the same proportion. To deal with this irony, farmers, scientists, officials and policy makers will have to come forward and reduce the production cost of crops. He added, “We need to learn the conservation of Himalayan environment and ecology from small countries like Nepal and Bhutan.”
Dr Ishwari S Bisht, former Principal Scientist and Head, NBPGR, RS Bhowali, spoke on agro-ecological change of food systems in Uttarakhand, major challenges and opportunities. ‘’The farmer has the best knowledge from production of crops to processing and consumption, but due to many obstacles in this essential process of agro-ecology, farming in the hilly region of Uttarakhand is facing big challenges,’’ he added and drew the attention to the barren landscape of Pauri, Almora, Champawat and Bageshwar in the central Himalayas of Uttarakhand. And he also emphasised the need to reduce the distance from laboratory to field and production to market by making agricultural policy practical.
Dr JC Rana, Indian Representative for Alliance of Biodiversity International, spoke about the Himalayan Agro-Ecological Initiative (HAI). He said, “The Himalayan Agro-ecology Initiative (HAI) is a strategic effort that works in collaboration with governments and with the support of a broad group of stakeholders to support multi-stakeholder processes that help develop, build and implement a roadmap for agro-ecologically sustainable food systems. The primary objective of this effort is to improve the livelihood and sustainability in the three Himalayan countries (India, Nepal and Bhutan) and to empower farmers, farmer producer organisations and other key stakeholders to better benefit from public policies that support organic/natural agriculture, food processing and consumption.
Kailash Bhatt, associated with livelihood programmes, highlighted the experiences, challenges and opportunities in the field of agricultural production in Uttarakhand hills. He spoke on processing, branding and marketing of hill-based products through the Rural Enterprise VEG project. This technical session was chaired by Dr GS Rawat, Professor Emeritus, UCOST, former Director and Dean, WII.
The second session was based on group discussion. This session concluded on the basis of dialogue with three groups. The first group was led by Pawan Kumar, CGM, Patanjali Organic Research Institute, Haridwar. The theme discussed by his group was based on government officials representing various departments and organisations.
The second group was led by Ajay Joshi of Shramyog organisation and this was based on ‘NGOs, CBOs, and representatives of industries’.
The third group was conducted on the topic of ‘Federation/Progressive Farmer/FPO’ under the leadership of Dr Pradeep Mehta, State Head, UNDP.
In the closing session, all the three groups presented a brief description of their talks.
Dr Manoj Kumar Pant, ACEO, CPPG, and Government of Uttarakhand, highlighted “Uttarakhand State Agricultural Policies and Schemes: Challenges and Opportunities”.
A total of 70 participants were present in this programme organised by Himalayan Agroecology Initiative (HAI). The programme was conducted in three sessions.
At the beginning of the session, Consultant, HAI, Uttarakhand, Dr Vinod Kumar Bhatt welcomed everyone. Dr Anil Joshi, Advisor, IRD Foundation thanked everyone. The programme was coordinated by Soil Scientist Dr Hariraj Singh.
