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Case Study
Traditional Agriculture in Ladakh

Valley
Irrigated valley in arid central Ladakh

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Prepared by Luc Kazimirski
All photographs by the author.


OVERVIEW

There is very little litterature available on Ladakh. Most of the information presented in this page was gathered on a recent trip to the area. In the summer of 1998, I spent six weeks in Ladakh exploring, talking to local people, treking and observing. It is an area of intense natural beauty; surrounded by some of the highest mountains in the world, richly colored rock, bright green irrigated valleys and huge smiling faces.

This page focuses on the agriculture of Ladakh and the unique adaptations that have been made there to allow the people to survive in this high altitude desert. Despite the short growing season, absence of rainfall, and harsh climate, Ladakhi people produce more than enough food for themselves. This is achieved through a complex network of irrigation canals and an interresting method of developing and fertilizing soils. This is an excellent example of how traditional farmers can be creative and adaptive (see Richards, 1986).

The agriculture of Ladakh also illustrates some of the common characteristics of traditional farming described on the previous page. Ladakhi farmers use low levels of inputs, maintain diversity of production systems and actually promote trophic complexity much greater than the surrounding natural systems.

KEY FACTS
(Bhasin, 1992)

  • Average annual rainfall, 10 cm/year
  • Area, 59,000 km2
  • Average elevation, 3450 m
  • Highest mountain pass, Kardung La 5800 m
  • Population, 140,000 people
  • Population density, 2 people / km2 (one of the lowest in the world)
  • Temperature range, -40°c (winter) to 30°c (summer).

 

GEOGRAPHY

Map of Ladakh
From Norberg-Hodge Ancient Futures, 1991

Ladakh is situated on the high Tibetan plateau. To the South lies India and the Himalayan mountain range, to the north is the Karikoram mountain range to the west is Indian Kashmir and to the east lies Tibet.

It is in the rain shadow of the Himalayas making it one of the driest places on earth. Very little grows naturally in this harsh environment, though a few small succulent plants, some grasses and moss manage to survive. In damp soils near rivers willows survive and are an important source of building materials. Wild animals are also rare. Those that are present tend to be well adapted to harsh environment and few in number. There are Yaks, snow leopards, blue sheep, Ovis amon (the Great Tibetan sheep), Himalayan marmot, coyotes, wolves, lynx, musk deer and even wild camels in the isolated Nubra Valley. The people in Ladakh are quite ethnically diverse. Western Ladakh is mainly Muslim, there are pockets of Arian peoples who migrated from Western Asia almost a thousand years ago, but the majority are Indo-Tibetan Buddhists.


ECOLOGY

Ladakh is a truly self-sufficient culture. The first road into the area was built only 20 years ago. Therefore almost everything was produced locally by necessity. It is for this reason that Ladakh is of importance from an agroecological perspective. The traditional farming techniques of the region are still in use. One does not have to search for someone who knew how things used to be done; people everywhere still use the same farming methods that have been used for centuries. These unique methods, having co-evolved with the culture, have allowed the Ladakhis to survive in what seems to most people to be a completely inhospitable climate.

Terraced fields showing the small
canal that supplies the water
There is almost no rainfall in the region therefore all water is supplied from glacier fed streams and rivers. The rivers are diverted into small canals which carry the water, sometimes several kilometres. These canals are further divided into smaller channels so that each small plot has its own established water supply. There is almost no naturally occurring soil suitable for agriculture. All the soil is actually developed by the people. The basic terraced structures of fields are built from stone. In the spring, people stand in the rivers and disturb the river bottom with long poles or rakes. This forces river sediments into the water. The sediment-laden water is directed to the new fields where it floods the stone-enclosed terraces. The sediments settle out of the water and then the process is repeated. This process is actually done with established field as well to add fresh supplies of minerals and nutrients. Once enough river sediments have been deposited, usually after several years of controlled flooding, early succesionist species of plants are encouraged to grow. Small grasses and the vibrant Himalayan rose usually dominate this phase. The rose bushes are eventually cut and used as fencing; their thorny branches being one of the few things animals will not push through to get at the crops. As the soils improve over time, willow trees are planted and eventually used as building materials. When the plot of land is deemed ready, human and animal manures are mixed with the soil and the staple crop of barley is planted. About two thirds of the plots are planted with barley, the remainder are used to raise wheat or family plots of turnips, potatoes, tomatoes and lettuce. In the valleys at lower elevations, orchards are also maintained. The principle trees being apricot with a few apple and walnut trees.

Animals are also an important component of Ladakhi subsistence. They raise sheep, goats, horses and their revered dzo, a cross between a yak and a cow. This is their most important draft animal as well as their primary source of milk, cheese and wool. In Ladakh, the higher altitude pastures are actually more productive. They therefore appoint one or two members of the village to take all the animals to high pasture. While there, the animals graze and the attendants spin wool, make butter and cheese and collect dung for the winter. This system diversity ensures relatively constant food production from season to season and from year to year. Fresh vegetables ripen in the summer, apples and barley are ready in the fall and animals produce fresh dairy all year. Additionally, livestock are insurance for extremely harsh growing seasons. They can be eaten if the crops do not produce enough in any given season.

Ladakhi farmers produce nearly all the necessary inputs on farm. Human and animal wastes are mixed with inedible crop residues. After composting, this rich organic matter is applied to the fields. As previously mentioned, the soils are also enriched with a great deal of minerals and nutrients from flooding. These techniques ensure the farmers are highly self-sufficient and are not dependent on external inputs.

The surrounding ecosystems support very low species diversity. Ladakh is a high altitude desert where virtually nothing grows. The farming systems in Ladakh actually increase the trophic complexity of the ecosystem. The pictures on this page show how lush and green the irrigated valleys can be. Without the involvement of the farmers, these valleys would be as barren as the surrounding desert. Traditional farmers in the Trokkkpics maintain trophic complexity approaching natural systems. Ladakhi farmers actually surpass the trophic complexity of the surrounding ecosystems.

Sand storm in the Nubra Valley
Agroecosystem research must examine production systems from a broad social perspective in order to understand how a particular system has evolved (Altieri 1987). The complex interaction of cultural and environmental factors is readily apparent when examining Ladakhi society and their farming methods. The people are self-sufficient, resilient and exceedingly content. The harsh environment greatly limits what can be grown. Yet even with these constraints, people are able to produce enough food to trade for tea or salt or to brew vast quantities of chang, a local barley beer needed for frequent winter celebrations. Their Buddhist culture encourages people to respect the land and their community. It teaches people to appreciate what they have, to avoid conflict, to live in harmony with their neighbors and their environment. It is difficult to determine if their culture and values actually evolved in response to the limitations imposed upon them by the environment. It is clear that despite the limitations of their environment they have very succesively developed a culture and creative system of production that is extremely well adapted to these limitations.

USEFUL LINKS


  • ABOUT LADAKH, INDIA
    (http://www.ecovillages.org/india/ladakh/ladakh.html) International Society for Ecology and Culture, Spons. (1999, January 19; Viewed 5 Feb. 2001)

CITED LITERATURE

  • Alteri, M. 1987. Agroecology, The Scientific Basis of Alternative Agriculture. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado. 
  • Bhasin, M. 1992. Cold Desert: Ladakh, Ecology and Development. Kamla-Raj Enterprises, Delhi.
  • Norberg-Hodge, H. 1997. A radical challenge to the encroachment of monoculture. Development 40: 67-70.
  • Norberg-Hodge, H. 1991. Ancient Futures, Learning from Ladakh. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco.
  • Richards, P. 1985. Indigenous Agriculture Revolution: Ecology and Food production in West Africa. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado. 

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