permaculture

[Steve Diver <steved@ipa.net>]

They use irrigation, but it varies among locations how it
is distributed.  

They grow many different crops on the terraces, just like
you'd see with a regular crop rotation.  One of the challenges
of the modern economy in India is that farmers are sucked 
into cash cropping and monocropping to pay bills, thus they lose 
the inherent sustainability of the crop rotation effect which
supplies both natural soil fertilty and pest suppression.  They
therefore use more pesticides.  It's a classic pesticide treadmill.

Keep in mind that farmers are aware of the shift. Their 
parents and grandparents farmed the sustainable way, it is modern
socio-economic forces that drive this treadmill.  

It sometimes take a catalyst to shift things back towards a 
sustainable farming direction and Biodynamics, Organics, EM, 
and Natural Farming are some of the dynamic farming systems 
that are grabbing farmers attention and supporting this shift. 

Creating these terraces, as you can imagine, is incredibly 
laborious.  However, working the soil in these terraces
is similar to any kind of soil cultivation.  But it's done
in tighter spaces and involves moving your bullock and implement
from terrace to terrace. 

Here's a couple of the sustainable farming NGO's in Uttaranchal 
region, which includes Dehra Dun and Nainital.
 
CHIRAG -- Central Himalayan Rural Action Group
http://www.chirag.org

Uttaranchal Organic Commodity Board
http://www.organicuttaranchal.org/majkhali.htm

Also see on pBase:

http://www.pbase.com/image/44749438
http://www.pbase.com/digitalfestival/image/48128967
http://www.pbase.com/digitalfestival/image/44732562
http://www.pbase.com/digitalfestival/image/62843557
http://www.pbase.com/image/62743098
http://www.pbase.com/digitalfestival/image/62935756
http://www.pbase.com/sethlazar/image/74404140
http://www.pbase.com/sethlazar/image/56366359
http://www.pbase.com/sethlazar/image/74379662

Best regards, 
Steve Diver 



>paul wheaton wrote:
>
>Did you look at how water is moved around?  Do they use many of the
>terraces for crops other than rice?  Are the terraces at the bottom
>designed for greater water flow during the rains?  Did you get an idea
>of how work intensive the terraces are?