Jhum cultivation is a significant agricultural practice in the Northeast India. It is considered to be the oldest method of cultivation and is regarded as the beginning of the transformation of humans from food collector to food producer. This agricultural practice is believed to be 9000 years old.
While many of us are coming to realize that horticulture in Meghalaya has great potential, how many know that the state is home to a number of excellent organizations that support agricultural and horticultural activities? One such is Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA), which was set up in March 2013 to implement the Integrated Basin Development and Livelihood Promotion Programme (IBDLP) of the Govt. of Meghalaya.
Eline A. Sangma is a lady organic farmer who has been practising organic farming for the past 20 years and is no less than a successful agricultural entrepreneur. Her family farm is in Mukdangra Village, West Garo Hills district, Meghalaya. She grows a variety of crops and uses natural fertilizers like animal dung. Team Zizira visited her farm on the 26th December 2015 and we bring you this first-hand report from the field visit.
Meghalaya’s marginal farmers, living on the fringes of society and of the economy, seem to have help at hand in a scientific mind that believes that the goodness of nature’s bounties spread around the wild hills should benefit them. That is what Zizira gathered from Dr Ashiho Asosii Mao, a Senior Scientist of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) in Shillong.
Zizira’s team of explorers went on a quest to get some insight into the potential of agriculture of Meghalaya. During one of these field visits, team Zizira came across an organic ginger farm in Mawtnum village in Meghalaya.
Bird’s Eye chillies are common chillies of India. They are hot, but decent enough to be used regularly in Indian meals. They are grown organically widely in Meghalaya and provide great taste to your meals.It was mid October 2015 when Zizira explorers made a trip to Dulongnar, a small village in the Ri-Bhoi district, which is famous for Bird’s Eye chillies. The team met with farmers growing Bird’s Eye chilli, spent time to understand all about their cultivation and bought high quality, organically grown ones for the Zizira store.
Meghalaya is a predominantly agrarian state where about 80% of its population depends on agriculture for livelihood. Rice is the main food grain crop, complemented by other like maize, wheat and a minority share of pulses. Oil-seed crops like rape and mustard are also grown. Fiber crops like cotton, jute and mesta are the traditional cash crops.
Zizira depends on its team of explorers to understand the agricultural sector, to network with farmers through field visits and to identify healthy, little known produce to market. It looks like the Zizira explorers are on ‘operation mode’ 24x7. Not just they, even their family members. How the team got to meet a lady farmer Bernadethe reads like a series of unconnected events, strung together thanks to the ‘on’ mode of the Zizira team of explorers and their families! Read on to see why.
Research is not an end in itself, especially when it involves farming and the livelihoods of marginal farmers. It is a social cause to start with, and an economical cause as its end. And to such an end the benefits of research needs to be reached efficiently and quickly.
North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), with its beautiful 1225 acres campus in Umshing, Shillong, is a pride of not only the Northeast India, but the country itself. Established in 1973, the move to a new campus happened only in 2005. Right from the beginning it has been quietly establishing itself as an Institution of higher learning and research of very high standards.