Uttarakhand 221
.double cropping is hardly known. Agriculture is not confined to
the above, even the mountain slopes and the ridges have been cut
.out into terraced fields but even then, the return does not fully
justify the labour. Every year, when the rain comes, it washes
away the top soil and all manurial dressing which implies shifting
farming as a result of which each year new ground has to be
broken at several places like the jhoom system of Nagaland,
causing instability and erosion of forest land. Moreover, increase
-of population has also intensified pressure on the land.
In order to make hills self-sufficient in respect of food, it is of
utmost importance that people are educated about the importance
of modern agriculture and asked to plant fruit trees, cash crops,
flower seeds, medicinal plants, dry fruits, potatoes, ginger, pulses
and beans. In fact cereals and cash crops should be accommo-
dated adequately.
In the field of agriculture some real constructive work has
been done (by Vivekananda Institute founded by Mr, Boshi Sen
at Hawalbagh and agricultural Research Institute of the Ministry
of Defence, Almora and of course G.B. Pant Agricultural Uni-
versity, Pantnager. The research attainments of these institutions
need to be disseminated to the villages through display, distribu-
tion and consultancy units and development blocks.
Irrigation
Closely connected with the agriculture is irrigation. It has not
been brought under systematic planning and execution. One
can always find almost all the canals out of commission due to
nature's curse, rampant corruption, landslides and neglect of
the engineers and the non-participation by the villagers. The
best way can be to dig irrigation canals all along the hill sides
and connecting them with one another. The maintenance of
these canals should be shared by the irrigation authorities and
villagers.
Some of the these minor irrigation canals can be utilised for
generating micro-hydel power also which will feed a nucleus of
villages and provide power for the cottage industries attacked
to them.