July 1987 FOEWOD This Natural Resource Management Paper Serie is funded through the project, "Strengthenirv Institutional Capacity in the Food and Agricul­ tural Sector in Nepal," a cooperative effort by the Ministry of Agricul­ ture (MOA) of His Majesty's Government of lepal and the Winrock Interna­ tional Institute for Agricultural Development. This project has been :. ,;L, 'f : ;. -International made possible by substantial financial support from the U.S. Age'acy for >7 . " A HONG PASTURE, Development (USAID), the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the Canadian Interiiational Development Research Centre (IDRC), and the Ford Foundation. 2,1 C' ULY-.P One of the most important activities of this project is funding for problem-oriented research by young professional staff of agricultural C a se S t u d Ta ra agencies of the MOA and related institutions, as well as by concerned individials in the private sector. This research is carried out with the active profe~sional assistance of the Winrock staff, The purpose of this Natural Resource Management Paper Series is to make the results of the research Om Prasacd Guruna activizies related to natural resources available to a larger audience, and to acquaint younger staff and students with advanced methods of research and statistical analysis. It ia also hoped that publication of the Series will stimulate discussion among policymakers and thereby assist in the formulation of policies which are suitable to the development of Nepal's agrculture. The views expressed in this Researci Report Series are those of the authors, and do not necessarily ref lect the views of their respective parent institutions. Mavijke Jo Uhienbroek Michael B. Wallace Series Editors HN G- ID::, -FOR D-.WINRO CK PROJECT STR i, L):' K. ,IHE NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PAPER SERIES Number 2 July 1987 INTERRELATIONSHIPS AMONG PASTURE, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND AGRICULTURE: A Case Study of Tara Om Prasad Gurung HMG-USAID-CTZ-IDRC-FORD-WINROCK PROJECT STRENGTHENING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY IN THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IN NEPAL TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 2 Objectives of the Study 3 Review of Literature 3 METHODOLOGY 4 Limitations of the Study 5 ETHNOGRAPHIC/GEOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY AREA 5 Physiography 5 Ethnic Composition 5 Natural Resources 6 Village Economy 6 Educational and Other Social Activities 7 ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND PASTURE MANAGEMENT 7 Feed Sources 8 Grazing Cycle 10 Pasture/Forest Management System 10 GOVERNMENT EFFORTS FOR PASTURE DEVELOPMENT 11 An Evaluatio)n of Animal Husbandry 13 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY IN TARA 14 Types of Arable Land 15 Production Pattern 16 SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 18 Specific Recommendations Related to Tara Village 19 General Recommendations for Improving Hill Agriculture 19 REFERENCES 20 -------------------------------------------------------------- LIST OF TABLES Table i. Ethnic Distribution of Tara Village 5 Table 2. Animal Population 7 Table 3. Animals Owned by Ethnic Groups 8 Table 4. Classification of Land 15 Table 5. Size of Landholding by Ethnic Group 15 Table 6. Major Foodgrain Production by Sample Household 16 Table 7. Major Foodgrain Production by Ethnic Group 17 INTERRELATIONSHIPS AMONG PASTURE, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND AGRICULTURE: A Case Study of Tara Om Prasad Gurung* INTRODUCTION The economy of the villages in the hills of Nepal is based on a combination of agriculture and animal husbandry, and therefore ultimate­ ly depends on the optimum exploitation of natural resources. Farmers are aware that the agricultural economy of their hill villages is directly or indirectly related to the quality and quantity of the natural re­ sources available. If both continue to decrease and deteriorate, fewer animals will be kept, smaller amounts of manure will be produced, crop yields will decline, and the people will have less to eat (Poffenberger, 1980:50). Realizing this, the hill people have maintained and regulated their use of natural resources through various social measures, conserv­ ing, managing, and improving the resources on which their subsistence is based. Until 1968, one way of doing this was the kipat system. This system, once widely prevalent among the Rais, Limbus, Tatitangs, Lepchas, Danuwars, Sunuwars and Majhis. was a social control mechanism by which the land and natural resources were owned and controlled communally and distributed in accordance with family requirements. The system helped to prevent overexploitation of natural resources (Regmi, 1971: 27,50). In more recent decades, a number of factors have affected the villagers' relationship with nature. Social control mechanisms have gradually disappeared partly because differpnt ethnic groups encroached on previously single ethnic areas and partly because of the government's policy of converting all kipat land into raikar. Raikar is a form of state landlordism. Under this system the state holds raikar lands directly under its ownership and appropriates revenues from it for its own use (Regmi, 1976:12). The loss of the kipat system removed a traditional social control mechanism which resulted in individuals com­ peting for and over-exploiting natural resources. Added to this, the effects of rapid population growth and the resulting pressure oil pas­ ture, forest and marginal lands, has further accelerated the peoples' deteriorating ielationship with nature. Certain cultural practices, for example the inheritance of land and property by sons after they have separated from the parental household, exacerbate the need for more cultivated land. As the population in­ creases, the land becomes increasingly fragmented and households inherit less land frcm the ancestral estate. This imbalance has forced the hill people to bring pasture, forest and other marginal land under intensive cultivation. This has also contributed to the decline of natural re­ sources, which in turn, has affected the agricultural economy in the hills of Nepal. -------------------------------------------------------------------- * Om Prasad Gurung is a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. 2 In spite of the government's emphasis on agricultural Nepal has produced development, b~rely enough to feed her past growing population over the few years. In order to remove the imbalance between population growth and agricultural production :he government has been expending lot of effort with little success. a It overemphasizes technical and neglects the old aspects social measures employed by This mistake village communities. has invariably been repeated by policymakers, planners, educators, and researchers. Nepal is a land of vast renewable natural could play resources. The resources a significant role in increasing over agricultural productivity a longer period if they are controlled and managed efficiently. This depends on the traditional social measures adopted communities. The by village present research study considers adopted by th.e social measures village communities for natural resource management, with special reference to pasture. Objectives of the Study Pasture is one of the major components agricultural of livestock development and productivity. The economic value of pasture has been under­ stood by every farmer for generations and in many villages known as ritithiti (socially a fair rule accepted norms with respect grazing, hunting, -gathering to communal and cultivating) has pasture management. been established for Because agricultural productivity the amount is dependent on of manire produced by animals, ent ano taising animals is depend­ on the availability of pasture, animal husbandry and agriculture are inseparably intertwined. The specific objectives of the present study are to: - assess the role of village communities in pasture management; - analyze the interrelationship among pasture, animal husbandry, and agriculture. The study was undertaken in Tara Village Panchayat District. Although population of Baglung growth and uncontrolled livestock certainly caused some have damage, the Panchayat is resources and still rich in natural this may be because the village people still have their own ritithi ti. Review of Literature Several research projects have been carried out institutions and by various research many reports are available on which Nepal's the natural resources on agricultural economy is dependent, little but they have very practical v.lue in the economic general life of Nepali people. finding,: are that rapid The growth of population and its encroach­ ment on the forest, pasture and other marginal land, the domestication of an increasing number of livestock and the resulting been the prominent overgrazing have causes of natural resource Panday, 1983; decline (Panday, 1969; Miller, 1984; New Era, 1980; Ojha, Naston, 1983; and Bose and 1968). While suggesting better resource management, researchers have strongly recommended technical assistance, but neglected the tional measures adopted tradi­ by village communities themselves. 3 There are also some anthropological writings on the people of Nepal which describe natural resource management aT animal husbandry as integral parts of a village agriculture-based economy. The anthropolo­ gists (Macfarlane, 1976; Caplan, 1970; Hitchcock, 1966; and Kawakita, 1963) have also recognized population pressure as a principal cause of resource decline. Other anthropologists such as Alirol, Ekwall, haimen­ dorf and August Molnar, depict pastoralism as an economic strategy of various mountain