S20 - Session P3 - Looking beyond the traditional growing area to overcome grapevine decline- A case study of North-Eastern India

Authors: Harishchandra Prasad Singh *, Jai Singh Parihar

Major grape growing areas in India fall in southern states, which is a low rainfall region, with average annual rain fall of 1000mm. The Mizoram state, located in North-Eastern region is dominated by hilly terrain, receives more than 2500mm annual rainfall and more than 90 percent of the area is under forest. Shifting (Zhum) cultivation is the popular mode of agriculture. Under the Technology Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, launched in the beginning of the 21 st century, efforts were made to encourage farmers for the cultivation of horticultural crops, with a focus for discouraging shifting or Zhum cultivation. Sites were selected using the cluster approach by mapping shifting cultivation areas using remote sensing satellite images. Information on terrain, including slope and aspect, along with connectivity with transport network and other physical parameters were used for determining the site suitability. Information on soil and weather were the other parameters considered. Know how about the grape cultivation and quality planting material was provided to farmers in Champhai district of Mizoram by the state horticulture department. It has resulted in Hnahlan village having a wine factory producing several thousand litres annually. The grape growing farmers of the Champhai district have been guided and encouraged by the state horticulture department to form the Grape Grower's Association, which manages the processing of grapes produced in the district, as well as its marketing. Improvement in socio-economic conditions, as seen from temporal satellite images, shows that the area under grape cultivation has continued to increase: the village earlier had houses constructed using local materials, but now has a large number of concrete houses. The area under cultivation is no more a shifting cultivation. The exercise has successfully demonstrated that non-traditional grape growing areas could be used as safeguard against crop decline. It has also brought prosperity to the resident population and reduced the uncertainty associated with shifting cultivation.