National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE)

 

Project title: Sustainable agriculture for food, nutritional and ecological security and for ameliorating climate change impacts in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR)

 

Task Force on Agriculture (TF-6) – North Eastern Himalayan Region

The North Eastern Region (NER) of India comprises of the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The overall size of the region comprises less than 10% of the total land area of the country, covering an area of 262179 sq. km. The NER has a population of over 47 million with a population density of around 170 people per square kilometre. Agriculture is the major source of livelihood contributing 19% to 37% to the State Domestic Product (SDP) in different states. Moreover, the eight states have their own tribal communities that practice a wide variety of local farming practices and traditions, thus, making this part of the country unique in every aspect.

The NMSHE, a component of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), attempts better understanding of the coupling between the Himalayan ecosystem and the climate factors and provide inputs for sustainable Himalayan development. Thus, under this project, Task force – 6 was constituted with its focus on developing and sustaining Himalayan agriculture.

The Objectives of the NMSHE are as follows

  • Development of a database repository on soil (fertility and erosivity), water, genetic resources (arable crops, horticulture, agroforestry, livestock, and cold-water fisheries), socioeconomics and farmers’ practices.
  • Identification and promotion/scaling up of suitable practices for conserving soil, water, and vegetation focussing on carbon sequestration model to attract and flow green bonus towards the farming community.
  • Validation of the extant technologies and refinement of farming systems and practices to cope with climatic variability and climate change.
  • Capacity building of farmers for a low carbon future through climate resilient agricultural practices including popularization of suitable farm machinery.
  • Assessment of the potential of agroforestry and conservation agriculture to mitigate climate change impacts.

The following are the Partnering Institutions of NMSHE TF-6 project

  • ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam, Meghalaya as the Lead Centre and also its Regional Centres in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura
  • National Research Centre (NRC) on Pig, Guwahati, Assam
  • NRC on Mithun, Medziphema, Nagaland
  • NRC on Yak, Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh

The following are the Knowledge Institutes (Partners) of NMSHE TF-6 project

  • National Bureau on Plant Genetic Resources, Regional station, Umiam, Meghalaya
  • Indian Institute on Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand
  • Directorate on Coldwater Fisheries Research, Bhimtal, Uttarakhand
  • Central Agroforestry Research Institute, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh