Agrarian Economy of the Central Himalaya

Though the understanding of the institutional framework of land resource utilisation is the utmost priority for formulating and implementing environmentally sustainable strategy for development in the Himalaya, yet very little is known about the basic features of agrarian economy of the Himalaya. This is urgent not only to save the Himalaya and to maintain the perenniality of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers, but also to sustain the fertile future of the food bowl of the Gangetic plains. The present study is an attempt to analyse the basic interaction between man and mountains. Land resources are the kernel around which the human habitat has always been revolved and agglomerated. Keeping in view of its significance, the integrated facits of the Himalayan socio-economic system, based on agrarian structure and land resource utilisation, are analysed namely, agricultural economy; agrarian relations; utilisation of work force; technology and agriculture in the Central Himalaya. The data on land resource utilisation published since 1815 have been computed. This data analysis has been supported by primary data collected through sample survey in the Central Himalaya. This book would fill the present vacuum by providing socio-economic understanding of the environmental sustainability and utilisation of land resources in the Central Himalaya. The book will be useful as an essential reference volume for the researchers, planners, administrators and students, as well the general reader working or feeling concern for the burning imbalances between environment and development, specifically in the Central Himalaya.