Traditional Indigenous Agriculture May Be Key to Sustainability In India
By Andrew Wight
Conservation scientist Joli Rumi Borah found that a traditional indigenous farming method from India that feeds millions of people in the Global South has carbon and biodiversity and cultural benefits as well.
Borah, currently a postdoctoral research fellow at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, says carbon stocks and biodiversity recovered where shifting cultivation, called jhum by the indigenous Naga people, was found in Nagaland, Northeast India.
“My research showed that farmers in Northeast India have adopted various innovative ways to improve crop yield and enhance forest regeneration,” she says, adding that this was evident in the high levels of carbon stocks and bird diversity in the jhum cultivation landscapes in Nagaland.
Photo courtesy of CDG.
Source: Forbes (link opens in a new window)
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