Abstract

Traditional agriculture practice is the main occupation of people of the mountainous Kedarnath Valley. It is also source of income of majority of the families in Kedarnath Valley. The present study was focused on the collection of agriculture and horticulture data through field visits and various methods including questionnaire, personal interviews, direct interaction with the villagers and group discussion. A wide verity of cereals, millets, vegetables, pulses and fruits has been recorded from the Kedarnath Valley. Altogether, 14 plant species belonging to 13 genera and 6 families from cereals and millets crops, 36 plant species belonging to 28 genera and 13 families from vegetable crops, 12 plant species belonging to 8 genera and one family from pulses and 18 plant species belonging to 8 genera and 6 families from fruits have been recorded. Main agriculture crops in the Valley are paddy, finger millet, barnyard millet, maize, wheat, barley, amaranatha, and vegetables, all types of pulses, oilseeds and fruits. Among vegetables, potato, carrot, onion, tomato, all types of leaf vegetables, pumpkin, brinzal, pea, ladyfinger, radish, garlic, ginger and bitter gourd. are grown widely. All varieties of fruits are also grown in the Valley. The main fruits are orange, malta (orange), plum, vilayati and local peach, apricot, lemon, mango and pear. According to traditionally accepted criteria, agriculture land in the region is identified as irrigated locally known as sera or Gangarh and rainfed locally known as Ukhar or danda. The present study aims at discussing agro-biodiversity and traditional agriculture practices including cropping patterns harvesting seasons, production of crops, key problems of agriculture and suggesting some important measures for improving traditional farming system, which can promote sustainability, in terms food security and livelihood security.

Keywords

kedarnath valley, traditional agriculture practices, agro-biodiversity