Impact of Intensive Agriculture on Natural Resources and Vulnerability of Mountainous Rural Communities to Environmental Changes in Himachal Pradesh
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Date
2015
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YSPU
Abstract
The present investigation entitled “Impact of intensive agriculture on natural resources and vulnerability of
mountainous rural communities to environmental changes in Himachal Pradesh” was conducted during the years 2014 and 2015 in the Department of Environmental Science, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh. The study aimed at determining the impact of cropping systems on natural resources, assessing biophysical vulnerability of mountainous communities to environmental changes and identifying their adaptations to climate change. To determine the impact of cropping systems on natural resources like soil and groundwater quality, four cropping systems namely;
vegetable, fruit, cereal and agroforestry were selected in mid-hills of Himachal and uncultivated land was considered as the control. In total there were five treatments which were replicated six times under randomized block design. To assess the vulnerability of the people to environmental changes and determine their adaptations to changing climate, 275 households were selected in the mid-hill region of the state and data on various indicators of vulnerability and adaptations were collected using a pretested questionnaire. The study used Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to assess household level vulnerability, while, logit
regression was used to predict farmers’ adaptation to climate change. In the mid-hills of Himachal Pradesh, the cropping systems did not influence the soil properties like SOC, bulk density, pH and EC adversely. In surface soil, available NPK ranged from 303.76 to 555.45, 20.62 to 43.96 and 198.87 to 451.12 kg ha-1, respectively. Surface soil accumulation of As, Ni, and Zn was within WHO permissible limits for soil. In mid-hills, Pb and Cd exceeded by 0.34, 0.33, 0.17, 0.16, 0.06 and 0.11, 0.10, 0.08, 0.06, 0.01 mg kg-1 in surface soils under vegetable, fruit, cereal and agroforestry cropping systems and control, respectively over
the prescribed permissible limit of 0.1 (Pb) and 0.01 (Cd) mg kg-1. Groundwater pH and EC ranged from 6.76 to 7.48 and 0.46 to 0.99 dSm-1, respectively. The COD and BOD values of groundwater ranged from 1.33 to 2.33 and 7.67 to 17.33 mg l-1. The groundwater chlorides, nitrates and sulphates ranged from 7.33 to 15.50, 1.39 to 9.98 and 19.75 to 58 mg l-1, respectively. Concentration of zinc and arsenic in groundwater was within permissible limits. In the region Pb and Cd exceeded by 0.17, 0.04 and 0.01, 0.01 mg l-1 in the groundwater under vegetable and fruit cropping systems, respectively over their corresponding
prescribed limit of 0.1 and 0.01 mg l-1. Surface soil carbon density ranged from 10.71 to 20.60 Mg C ha-1 .The total soil carbon stock was in the range of 1505.82 to 10427.79 Gg. In mid-hills the frequent droughts and climate change enhanced the vulnerability of mountain people. In the region dependence on natural resource based income has increased the sensitivity of the people. The physical assets have enhanced the adaptive capacity of the people. The overall vulnerability index ranged from -4.08 to 4.59 and followed the trend; Kandaghat> Naggar> Solan >Kullu. The region is presently experiencing rise in temperature and
decrease in rainfall. In mid-hills the factors such as farming experience, education, off farm income and access to credit and extension services significantly determined famer’s adaptation to changing climate. The study indicated that the cropping systems and development activities have started affecting soil and groundwater quality by increasing heavy metal concentration and biophysical vulnerability of the households in remote areas due to low adaptive capacity. Under such situations, fruit based cropping system was found to have the best soil carbon sequestration potential and further it has improved the physico-chemical
properties of the soil and maintained its fertility status. In order to reduce biophysical vulnerability of the mountain people to changing situations, good practices for managing drought and reducing sensitivity of the people of remote areas by providing required infrastructure facilities and diverse fruit based cropping systems need to be encouraged.
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Keywords
crops, adaptation, cropping systems, climate, irrigation, climatic change, seasons, water, cultivation, carbon