Jhum cultivation under Ruzaphema village. (Photo Courtesy: Bendangsenla)
Virosano Solo
Climate change is slowly exposing its impact on our land and this harsh reality is one we cannot turn a blind eye. Nagaland known for its rich abundant biodiversity, however has been witnessing several climate changes over the years. With the agriculture sector mainly depending on seasonal rains and alterations in the monsoon along with affecting the frequency and intensity along with change in weather is causing obstructive influence in the agricultural sector. Majority of the districts in the state have reported severe rainfall deficit over the past few years. It has been outlined from a report on climate change and its impact in Nagaland, jointly published by GOI and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that Nagaland state is most likely to have a rise of 1.6 to 1.8 degree Celsius by 2020-2050, where districts on the southern parts like Zunheboto, Phek and Kohima have already observed such changes in the temperature.
Jhumming is an aged old practice carried out by farming communities on hilly slopes and terrain areas. Though jhum is said to help the land rejuvenate and the cycle ranges from 10-15 years, making the land sustainable in the future but over the years with increasing population and anthropogenic activities, it has been observed that the cycle has been reduced from 10-15 years to 2-3 years. As per Nagaland’s soil and water conservation department’s annual report for 2017-18, it was mentioned that the state losses an average of 30.62 tonnes per hectare soil annually through extensive slash and burn, exposing about 5.65% of total geographical area of the state. The report pointed that jhum is practiced by 61% of the community, covering 1 million ha in Nagaland. This traditional practice involves clearing of forests and land through deforestation, leaving the land barren for a specific period of time. About 83.6% of the soil at that site falls below pH 5, resulting in tremendous impact on the resources available, leading to drastic decline on soil properties and detrimental effect on forest and the entire environment. In the present day, fallow periods for the jhum lands are reduced and shortened, directly affecting the soil fertility and productivity rejuvenation, which has resulted in tremendous loss of top soil, increase in erosion, landslides, deforestation. Shifting of loose top soil towards slopes and downhill also causes falling of soil organisms (earthworms etc) resulting to soil erosion and gets washed during rainfall period. Loss of protective crop cover also makes the soil vulnerable to erosion (wind and water) giving rise to ecological imbalance and environmental degradation. Thousands of important natural vegetation, medicinal plants and timber are lost annually, which adds up to the environmental imbalance resulting in uneven dispersal of monsoon rainfall inducing to problems of excess rainfall and drought related issues across the state. With rise in temperature especially in hilly terrains, it would result in high variability in climate within the state, which would likely affect the crop production and yields, which would also account for loss of postharvest yield. Micro-climate changes have also been observed in Kohima district, where in short bursts of intense rainfall occur while some parts of the town do not get affected. Changes in weather pattern have also been observed, which is an alarming sign for climate change.
Soil condition under Amaluma Village in Dhansiripar (Dimapur). (Photo Courtesy: Lebatsonuo Solo)
The agricultural production decreases day by day due to serious infestation by pests, diseases, lack of proper management practices, uneven precipitation, which all are the results of climate change. It is a serious problem which is mainly due to emission of greenhouse gases from industries, deforestation and urbanization resulting changes in solar energy, temperature and rainfall intensity. A study published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, discovered that insect infestation increases with rise in temperature and crops are unable to cope with the change in condition and pest attack. With changes in the climate, warmer days have been reported and this creates a favourable and suitable environment for insects favouring their growth and increase in their number. Amid the COVID-19 lockdown, crops in Nagaland are under attack from several pests. Major impacts and damage has been reported from two pests:
a. The semi looper, a moth larva commonly known as inchworm, has affected various crops, especially leguminous crops in particular. Across the state, it has infested about approx 800 hectares of land, including potato, beans, chilli and other crops.
b. Fall armyworm (FAW) infestation is said to have impacted about 231 villages spreading across 2848 hectares of land across the state. It has been noted that FAW is foreign pest and voracious feeder in nature and is said to be a migratory pest.
Horticultural crops are more sensitive to climatic crisis as they heavily rely on adequate water supply and proper amount of daily energy like temperature, solar radiation. That’s why a small rise in temperature may cause serious damage to horticultural crops like fruits and vegetables. Climate change affects fruits in its various growth stages like delayed maturity, delay ripening, poor fruit quality, poor colour development, sun burn of fruit, poor panicle emergence, improper pollination etc. are some of the effects of climate change on fruits. The fruits grown indigenous of that state have their own growing environment ie. temperature, humidity, precipitation, solar radiation etc., but due to changing climate their production decreases day by day. It has also been observed that there is delay in fruiting in several fruits like example oranges are harvested and easily available during winter season (November to December), however, over the years with climate change they are available during February to march. Similarly, with tree beans (yongchak) with delay in fruiting, they tend to be fully matured by March, which is a three month delay from their average harvesting period. Climatic variability influences the flowering date in mango (both delay and early), proceeding in poor quality of fruit. Changes in temperature, unseasonal rainfall and higher humidity cause altered flowering trends, delays in panicle emergence and fruit set in case of mango.
According to reports from Indian Meteorological Department in 2019, during 18 of the last 19 years (2001-2019), the North East has received less rainfall than normal with an exception of 2007 (110 percent of normal) which is due to climate change. Delays in monsoon have led to shortage of rainfall, causing drought in all districts and has affected the crops drastically. Drought is a recurring phenomenon in Nagaland and poses a primary threat and constraint on the agricultural production of the state. From an observation point, several streams and springs have also started drying up in the state; as a result irrigation has adversely affected paddy and terrace fields. In Kohima district, potato production has been observed to be low by the growers; with scanty rainfall, poor leaf formation leading to failure to perform photosynthesis in the plant. However, late sowing of the crop proved to be a better method and yielded more produce. In Medziphema area, failure in seed germination has been reported on maize crop, which creates wastage of inputs, time and labour.
With sudden rainfall during winter season in the districts across the state, severe floods have occurred during the harvesting time of paddy causing drastic decline in the yield. With the occurrence of landslides and erosion it has drastically changed the topography, leaving areas prone to erosion. In a state report, indicated that there is about 10-25% higher flood discharge in southern districts of Kohima and Phek district as compared to other districts.
The writer is a Phd scholar, Department of Agronomy, SASRD, NU.
