Agricultural systems in the Yarlung-Tsangpo-Siang- Brahmaputra-Jamuna river system are dynamic and have been shaped over centuries by farming households living within specific ecological and social ecosystems in each basin and sub-basin of the river system. Most agricultural systems integrate crops and livestock, the level of integration differing according to the natural environment, climate, nutrition and economic needs of the households, and social and community influences. Farming households have adapted farming practices to changing circumstances, natural, ecological, social, political, and the prevailing policy environment. Climate variations, droughts and floods are important drivers for changes in cultivation practices and crop diversification in the river system. Agropastoral households in the Yarlung Tsangpo basin with its high altitude, low temperatures, short growing season, and variable climate follow a unique plateau agriculture and livestock management system. Indigenous communities in the Siang basin with its hilly terrain and plant agrobiodiversity practice shifting cultivation, an agricultural system strongly linked to their culture. Terraced agriculture is practiced in the hilly regions of the Manas and Teesta sub basins. Wet rice cultivation is practiced in the lower reaches of the river system in the Brahmaputra and Jamuna basin. Tea has a special place in the culture of Yarlung Tsangpo and an intriguing history in the Brahmaputra Valley. Rice is a common crop throughout the river system except in the high altitudes where barley and wheat are grown.