The stretch from Mao Gate to
Imphal on the historic National Highway (NH) 39, now renamed NH 2, has been my
most frequently travelled road. It holds many mixed memories ranging from life
threatening situations to life’s simplest joys. Among many others was the memory
of the picturesque scenery of lavish green forest and springs of water gushing
down from the mountains running into the river below. With such splendors all
around, it was easy to fall into a world of daydreams and by the end of the
journey be thoroughly renewed.
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| Slash and burn - Photo taken on the highway |
However over the years, I've
witnessed the rapid deterioration of this rich land into an almost pitiable
one. I've watched in pain the green mountains being stripped off their natural
beauty at many places. And now they are mere bare-backs of yellow landmass. I
am neither expert in environment nor an agriculturalist but I’m told that the
degradation visible to my layman eyes is caused due to extensive practice of
‘Jhum’/ ‘shifting cultivation’ besides timber business.
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| The outcome - Photo taken on the highway |
With the growing population, the
need for food has increased by manifold and thus the increase in abuse of the
environment. This need has also further shortened the cycle period of jhum
cultivation to 3 or 4 years and sometimes even lesser when actually the years
needed for recharging such land is at least 10 years. So, for this reason,
besides many other reasons, I think it’s wise to promote small family.
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| Terrace fields - Photo courtesy: Veio Pou |
On the other hand, we have been
practicing terrace cultivation for growing rice for generations now. Unlike
jhum cultivation, this form of cultivation is environment friendly as it prevents
soil erosion and retains the fertile top soil. So, can we employ this method to
grow other crops in large scale too? I’m told that elsewhere people successful
grow potatoes, maize and others on terrace fields. If some people have been
successfully growing other crops on terrace fields in our region, I think they
should share their experiences and encourage others to do so too.
The other issue that concerns me
is how to increase production without further expanding the farm land.
Obviously, we can no longer afford to bring down the limited forest areas.
Towards this end, will it be possible for us to adopt the System Rice
Intensification (SRI) method of cultivating rice? This system has been widely
accepted to be environment friendly and at the same time yield more crops in
the same area of land as compared to traditional method. On a very small scale, I
had asked my sister to try this out on an experimental basis and the result
seems quite positive. I may be wrong but I see some hope in this system.
Right now I feel so hypocritical
writing this sitting in an air conditioned room. But the concerns are real,
believe me.
I genuinely wish to see the stretch from Mao
Gate to Imphal regain its lost glory.
