National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS)

PERFORMA FOR THE QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT (Reporting Period from April to September, 2018)

1. Project Information

Project ID NMHS/2017-18/MG26/10 Project Title Assessment, Documentation and Validation of Sustainable Traditional Management Practices with Special Emphasis on Carbon Sequestration and Livelihood Improvement in Eastern Himalaya Project Proponent Dr. Tuisem Shimrah Assistant Professor, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Dwarka, Sector 16, New Delhi-110078

2. Objectives • To explore different traditional knowledge and characterize various traditional management practices in hill ecosystem; • To assess carbon sequestration potentials of various traditionally managed land uses; • To impart training and capacity building for traditional farming communities; • To preserve and enhance traditional knowledge to contribute to sustainable local livelihoods and sustainable use of forest biodiversity.

3. General Conditions • A report based on baseline data should be submitted by the project proponent in first quarter of the project and quantification of improvement in economic status of beneficiaries against baseline should be specified. • The project should be implemented specifically in the villages of the hilly region, not the valley region of the target state in consultation with the State government. • The Periodic Progress Report of the NMHS Project needs to be submitted and updated on the Online Portal of the NMHS (http://nmhsportal.org) by the PI/ Project Proponent on Quarterly basis consistently. Monitoring indicators for the project should be able to quantify the difference made on ground. • A Certificate should be provided that this work is not the repeat of earlier work (as a mandatory exercise). • The roles and responsibilities of each implementing partners should be delineated properly with their budget. The budget allocations to partners should be done in accordance with the MoEF&CC guidelines (Max. 30% for salary, 30% for equipment and 5% contingency). The same should be communicated to NMHS-PMU, before start of the project. • The PI must also submit the baseline data, past work done and all the supporting data generated under the NMHS Project along with the quarterly progress report to NMHS- PMU. • On completion of the study, a Seminar/ Conference/ Workshop should essentially be organized by the PI/ Proponent to discuss and disseminate the findings among the experts and concerned beneficiaries/stakeholders.

4. Progress (fill only 3rd and 4th Column)

Quantifiable Deliverables Monitoring Progress made Supportive indicators against documents deliverables in (PDF, Word, terms of Excel, JPG, monitoring TIFT) indicators 1 2 3 4  Development of 01  No. of New  Reconnaissance  Development environment friendly Database/ survey of the of organic village model for optimum Datasets project site has farming carbon sequestration and generated (No.) been carried out practice: A site organic production of by PI and Co-PI has been farm crops; during June- identified in  Database on traditional July 2018. Village as ecological knowledge and  Site selection for demonstration native crops and their environment farm. management practices; friendly village  Study and  In-situ conservation model for documentation models at local level in 2 optimum carbon on traditional districts of ; sequestration knowledge in  Documentation of local and organic project sites is flora with their status of production has going on threat will be established; been done  Phytosociolog  Local farmers and youth  Recruitment of ical studies will be trained for project staff (one going on to resource conservation; JPF) has been know status of completed. local flora  Inventory of  Farmers’ traditional training is to be knowledge and held in Peh crop diversity is village on 28- initiated and is 29, Dec. 2018 in progress.  Regular, periodic updates on region-specific best practices/ in-situ models developed (No.)  No. of Stakeholders benefitted (No. of Rural Youth, No. of Farmers, No. of Women, and Total No. of Beneficiaries) with update on Income generation (Rs./ person);  Other Publications and knowledge products (Nos.).

Brief progress report of the first quarter

As the part of project implementation (as per the rules and guidelines of the university), the process of formation of various committees was completed with due approval from honourable Vice Chancellor of GGSIPU during April-May 2018. The following committees were formed:

Sl. No Committee Date of Approval

1 Project Implementing Committee 17/05/2018

2 Purchase Committee 17/05/2018

3 Recruitment Committee 17/05/2018

Recruitment

Recruitment of one JRF and one Assistant has been completed and they are working on data collection in the field.

Purchase

Purchase of some equipments such as computer, camera, etc has been done. Other small equipments are to be purchased soon.

Site selection

As of now few villages have been selected as model traditional villages. They are Peh Village, Talui Village and Lunghar Villages. Final selection will be done shortly. The total population of the village is around 12000. The neighbouring are Marem, Kuirei, , Marangphungi Paorei, Varangrai, Phungcham, Longbi Khamasom, Somdal, Hoome, Chingjui (), Phaibung, etc. Two perennial rivers; Rangazakkong and Mashakong flow in the eastern and western side of the village respectively, providing abundant source of water for terrace agricultural field and animals.

Agriculture is the primary occupation of the villagers with rice paddy cultivation in permanent terraced fields at riverside and hill slope and varieties of crops in shifting agricultural fields. Rice is the stable food of the villagers. The village is home to various flora and fauna species. Literacy rate of these village are 76-80%. Characterization of ecosystem diversity in the village landscapes

Reconnaissance survey of the field for selection of study site was carried out during June- July 2018. Simultaneously, the literature review work is being carried out along with other field work. The main land use/cover types existing in the project site and also can be classified at field level on the basis of participatory observation were:

1. Forest

(i) Highly disturbed: Some of the sites in the forests are highly disturbed mainly by human beings (anthropogenic origin) for various activities such as removal of large amounts of biomass in the form of wood for timber, fuel and agriculture. These areas are also affected by fire by the villagers for agricultural and hunting activities.

(ii) Moderately disturbed: Minor or moderately forest disturbances are caused by human induced fire, landslides, windstorms and selective extraction of wood for timber and fuel purposes. The cattle including buffaloes and cows also cause disturbances to some extent.

(iii) Least disturbed: There are small patches of forest where the disturbance is minimal or negligible. Such sites are those areas where human and cattle accessibility is not possible such as deep slope, gorges, etc. These are located at far places at a distance of several kilometers away from human habitation.

2. Agricultural land use

(i) Wet paddy fields (WPF)

(a) WPF at riverside (irrigated): There are perennial small rivers flowing from north to south direction. On both side of the riverbed are located wet paddy fields. These fields are grown with rice paddy as monocrop. The fields are irrigated from this river.

(b) WPF on slopeland (partly irrigated, partly rainfed): On the gentle slopes, there located partially irrigated wet paddy field. The sources of water are small streams on the hillside. However, such stream cannot supply enough water for rice paddy. This shortage of water is supplemented by frequent rainfall. Rice is grown as monocrop in these fields too. (ii) Shifting agriculture: Shifting agriculture in this part of the country has been practicing since time immemorial. Over a period of time some of the farmers have change mode of cultivation with slight alteration in terms of practice and crop composition

3. Fallow lands of different ages (5-7 years)

After a land is cultivated for a period of two/three years, it is abandoned for natural regeneration for a period of five to seven years. This land use is suitable for cattle grazing as the new grasses and vegetation started coming out. Since goats are not reared in the study area, the grazing animals do not cause much harm to the regenerating vegetation since buffaloes and cows are considered to be moderate grazers.

4. Home garden

It is traditional for all households to have home garden at courtyard of the dwelling places. This land use is of great significance in terms of not only its productivity but in situ repository and conservation of rich germplasm of cultivated crops and medicinal plants. These crops are of various kinds such as vegetables, spices, fruits and medicinal plants.

5. Financial Progress (fill only 3rd and 4th Column)

Head Total The Supportive documents Budget Balance (PDF, Word, Excel, Allocated Amount JPG, TIFT) (Rs) (Rs) 1 2 3 4 Salary 1520640.00 1410813.00 Recruitment of one JPF and one Field Assistant has just concluded Travel 850000.00 701656.00 Expendables/ 750000.00 661052.00 Consumables Contingency 350000.00 326516.00 Activities & other 2150000.00 1953987.00 project cost Institutional Charges 500000.00 500000.00 Equipments 320000.00 308030.00 Total 6440640.00 5862054.00

UC Submitted: No Works to be carried out in the next quarter:

(i) Procurement of equipments (ii) Procurement of maps, toposheets, etc for LULC classification (iii) Field trip to project site and holding of farmers’ training in some villages (iv) So-economic survey

PLATES

1. Maize cultivation in Peh Village

2. Traditional Home garden in Talui village,

3. Alnus nepalensis (Nepalese Alder) being lopped and conserved in agricultural field

4. Wet Paddy fields on terraces along with jhum cultivation on slope in Mahadev (- road

5. Cultivation of medicinal plant (Centella asiatica) in home garden

6. Chayote cultivation along with tree bean (Parkia roxburghii) in Talui, a traditional village in , Manipur

7. Mixed culture of crops in traditional home garden in Peh Village