Hill Agriculture and Sustainability

Hills play a very significant role in sustaining about 10 per cent of world's population. There is small size of land holding in hilly areas and that too in scattered form. Hilly areas are endowed with ample natural resources including soil, water, climatic condition, diversity, topography, rich natural flora etc. which are conducive for the cultivation of a wide range of crops. Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is bestowed with natural beauty and located between 32.17 and 37.06 North latitude and 73.2 and 80.36 East longitude in the Himalayan region. The average temperatures of these two regions are 24.5 and 13.3 centigrade respectively. Hilly areas have huge potential in agricultural industry due to varied agro-climate and ecological conditions. Different types of commercially important crops can be grown in the J&K because of congenial atmosphere. In technology development, technology choice has a critical impact on many aspects of hilly areas development, especially the way we choose it, the way we design it, the way we deliver it to the masses. Technology is carefully chosen to enable the local people to imbibe knowledge appropriate to their needs and environment. Technology should upgrade the skills and capabilities, reduce drudgery, minimize fatigue, capable of easy assimilation, generate added value to the existing methods of operation, generate employment, low in capital investment, low in cost of production, be capable of replication and adoption and should blend harmoniously with existing eco-systems leading to tangible improvements in the living conditions and development of the people of hilly areas. There is a need to introduce appropriate tech-

- DR. BANARSI LAL

nologies in the hilly areas particularly in disadvantaged groups. There is a need of institutional linkages and active participation of voluntary organizations, Science and Technology based institutions, Research and Development institutions, financial agencies and most importantly people who are the primary stakeholders. Success of these technologies lies on participatory systems with a systematically approach for effective dissemination of technology. There should be proper mechanism in development and transfer of effective technologies in the hilly areas. The requirement of technology is assessed by the Science and Technology based institutions and NGOs. These organizations then look for ideal technology option ensuring the availability of local resources and skills.