Rice-fish cultivation of apatanis: A high altitude farming system in Arunachal Pradesh

Abstract

Rice-fish farming has been a heritage practice for the Apatanis in the Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh sustaining upon natural resources viz., land, water, rice varieties, fish species and indigenous knowledge. This paper reviewed the traditional expertise in the management of inimitable rice-fish farming of the valley and analyses the principles underlying the success of this system in fragile eastern Himalayan region of India. A survey conducted to collect data from randomly selected farmers of 7 villages of Ziro. The ricefish farming system as part of integrated ecosystem holds distinctive for its wet rice terraces with intrinsic fish trenches, dyke raised finger millets and finely apt bamboo plantations and pinewood thicket at the periphery to avoid soil erosion and conservation of forest together with intricately linked irrigation channels. Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) was the most preferred fish in the system cultivated with 16 indigenous landraces of rice varieties. The system assures improved rice and fish productivity than rice mono-crop, yielding 3–5 tons of rice and 200–500 kg fish/ha/yr. Furthermore, conserving this indigenous agro-culture has been meaningful to exploit rice-fish farming as eco-tourism resources for the mountainous farmers.