Contribution of commons to conservation agriculture in mountain areas

Conservation Agriculture (CA) in simple and practical terms implies conservation (including protection and upgrading) of natural resources base that sustains the diversified and inter-linked activities comprising agriculture. Conservation of the natural resources base (and therefore agriculture) is determined by pattern and processes of resource use (e.g. land use) under comprehensive or broad based agricultural systems, involving crops, livestock, farm forestry, water-moisture management etc. One of the components of agricultural systems particularly in developing countries, is the provision of village commons or common property resources (CPRs), especially in fragile and marginal lands with limited and high risk crop production potential. In such situations one of the community responses (or adaptations to bio-physical limitations) is to have provision of CPRs. The CPRs, broadly speaking are community resources (land, water, forest etc.) where whole community has access but no one has exclusive right to the resources. Besides collective access or usage rights, there are collectively evolved/designed obligations and responsibilities toward managing such resources. Thus CPRs are institutional arrangements, largely at community levels, to use and manage land resources (particularly fragile, marginal lands) unsuited for individually operated crop farming, but with significant contributions to the latter through multiple products and services available and used by the agriculturists.

It may be further added that the diversity, extent and contributions of CPRs on the one hand and combinations of community responses to them on the other, vary according to the features of landscapes or agro-ecological  regions, such as the tropical deserts or mountains. In keeping with this fact, the present paper looks at the CPRs and their contribution to CA in mountain (including hill) areas of Himalayas. The paper is largely based on inferences and understanding generated by different studies carried out for over a decade by ICIMOD and its partner institutions in different locations in the ICIMOD's regional member countries including Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan (Jodha et. al. 1992).

Furthermore, to understand the place and role of CPRs in facilitating conservation agriculture two additional issues are focused. First, we look at agriculture as a broad based phenomenon, where diversified, interlinked activities – annual and perennial cropping, livestock, farm forestry, horticulture and water – moisture management etc. are treated as pillars of agricultural system. Though for illustrations greater focus will be on crop based farming systems.