Travel Diary: Part 3. Journey Through the Hills of Himachal

 Agriculture scenario in Kangra District

    The bus kept moving steadily towards Jassur. The trees and bushes along the roadside seemed to run backward. Small fields lined both sides of the road. Wheat had been sown, but nowhere had the first irrigation—kor—been applied yet. The soil looked dry because it hadn’t rained for several days. Here and there, tiny kitchen-garden patches of vegetables appeared in the corners of the fields.

The leftover maize stalks from the previous crop were neatly stacked for use as winter fodder for cattle. These dry bundles were tied carefully at the base of large leafy trees so that rainwater—whenever it came—would damage them as little as possible and drain away easily. At a few places, paddy straw too was stored in round, neatly piled stacks.

I asked my co-passenger about agriculture in the Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh. He seemed almost eager to tell me everything about

his Himachal Pradesh. Pointing back toward the Pong Dam area we had crossed, he explained that people grow paddy in the low-lying belt where, during monsoon, the pong water rises close to the their fields. In the upper areas, they grow maize. He was giving a picture of farming in the Kangra region adjoining to Punjab.

“The fields may be small,” he said, “but farming is done only with tractors now.” And there was clear proof—during my 60-km journey, I had seen three tractor agencies. Where there is demand, traders naturally set up shop; the market always follows the customer.

He continued on his own, “Farming is declining here. People are leaving their fields uncultivated.”

Surprised, I asked why. In Punjab, people often fear that farmland may someday be taken over for companies, and they speak emotionally about their land. So why were people here giving up agriculture?

He sighed and explained, “Because of deer, wild boar, and monkeys. Deer graze the entire field like goats, wild boars uproot crops and vegetables, and monkeys destroy fruit plants. Farmers are helpless. So many are simply abandoning cultivation.”

He added, “And the younger generation doesn’t want to be tied to farming either.”

However, he proudly said, “But whatever we grow here is mostly free from excessive chemicals and fertilizers.”

His words reminded me of my own fields—how troubled we too are because of wild boars.

The bus halted again at the next stop, interrupting our conversation once more.

To be continued…

#Himachal Travel, #Himachal Village Life #Hidden Places in Himachal #Rural Himachal Pradesh

To read previous Part Click Here 

To read very First Part of this series Click Here 

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