Reviving Sikkim’s traditional agroecology

The traditional agroecology of North Sikkim’s Dzongu region has changed, thanks to modernization, increased household income, access to imported foods, and various government food schemes, according to a recent assessement.

The people of Dzongu are traditionally agriculturists, farming indigenous cash crops and foraging wild edibles from forests that supplement nutrition. However, diets in the region are changing with more reliance on rice through Public Distribution System (PDS). Rise in household incomes has also increased access to imported food.

While the PDS system has made it easy for economically vulnerable communities to access essential food grains, the researchers found that these changes to traditional lifestyles have made farming local food crops and foraging obsolete.

“Mountains are a repository of agrobiodiversity and wild edibles and these are linked to traditional knowledge and practices. These values seem to be losing ground when the food comes completely from outside” says Sarala Khaling, one of the authors of the policy brief produced by the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) under the Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems (SHEFS) programme.

Khaling says from a climate change perspective, sustainable food systems – from production to consumption – have fewer negative impacts on biodiversity.

In 2016, Sikkim became the first state in India to switch completely to organic farming after realising the adverse impact of chemicals on soil and food. The state phased out chemical fertilizers and pesticides and banned the sale and use of chemical pesticides.

Rajendra P Gurung, CEO of the non-profit Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Sikkim says that adoption of organic farming in the region is not the answer. The emphasis on commercial production of certain foods with longer shelf-life like cardamom, buckwheat and turmeric has shifted focus away from subsistence farming. “While the government encourages production through subsidies and schemes, the absence of policies to buy and distribute the produce has been detrimental to farming in Dzongu,” he says.

Khaling concurs. “Just growing food crops does not bring income to a farmer. Land size is small and agriculture is still manual, then there are the vagaries of the weather and crop depredation by wildlife. Cash crops tend to bring in much-needed income,” she says.

Khaling points out that food, biodiversity, livelihoods and human health are interlinked. Agroecology practices support biodiversity and ecosystems by maintaining crops and pollinator diversity and conserving soil moisture.

As a solution to the gradual loss of this practice, the researchers suggest supporting integrated agroecological farming by investing in local seed banking and farmer training, developing diverse local food supply chains and enabling local resilient food farming by reconsidering laws and policies that inhibit it. “We can’t expect farmers to remain in the traditional style of farming only. We have to have a mix of traditional and modern ways,” says Khaling.