ENVIS Bulletin Vol 14(1) : Himalayan Ecology SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION THROUGH HORTICULTURAL INTERVENSION IN HILLY AREAS R.K. Yadav, D.S. Yadav, N. Rai and S.K. Sanwal Division of Horticulture, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region Umiam -793 103, Meghalaya INTRODUCTION Land, which is the most precious heritage and the physical base of biomass production of life supporting systems, is finite. In this natural non-renewable endowment, the share of our country is fixed at about 329 million ha. It is not only inelastic but also heterogeneous in different parts and regions of the country with a definite set up, capabilities, suitability for different land resources. Conservation of land resources can promote sound land use to match with the land capabilities or suitability and to initiate correct land resources, development/suitability in the country. A close look at the present health of the soil and water resources reveals their wanton misuse and degraded environment. About 173 million ha covering slightly half of the country are threatened by various types of degradation like salinity, alkalinity, water logging, ravenous and gullied lands, areas under ravages of shifting cultivation, desertification, etc. About 800 ha of arable land are being lost annually due to ingress of ravines. There are specific problems of land degradation due to open-cast mining operations, using good productive land for brick kilns, coastal erosion and seawater ingress, excessive erosion and land slides in the crumbling hill areas. Our forests and grass lands have been over exploited. Frequent occurrences of floods and droughts in different parts of the country are evidence of improper land use in the catchments and inadequate conservation and use of rain water. The problem of land degradation has brought us face to face with the ever increasing depletion of the productivity and the basic land stock through nutrient deficiencies on the one hand and the ever growing demand for food, fodder, fibre, fuel, land based industrial raw materials and many non-farm land uses on the other hand. SCENARIO OF NORTHEASTERN REGION The north eastern region comprising of states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim is endowed with wide variety of flora and fauna. Degradation of land and water resources is a serious problem in this region. The adverse biotic impact has resulted in degradation of forests and this trend has been highlighted in many recent reports. Fast paced and multi-faceted development and ever increasing population have created tremendous pressure on land to provide basic requirement essential for survival. To meet these requirements, the limited natural resources are being over-exploited resulting in widespread eco-system degradation. The northeastern region is highly susceptible to acute soil erosion problems due to its undulating topography and high intensity rainfall. The primitive cultivation practices like jhum and bun further enhances these degenerative trends and rampant deforestation, wild fires, extensive grazing, unscientific mining and quarrying, etc., are adversely affecting the overall ecological condition of the region. Control efforts have not succeeded to desired scale. The authors strongly feel for the need of review and re-oriention of the planning process and programmes particularly for conservation and maintenance of natural resources such as soil, water, plants and animals. The climatic conditions and topography in different North East states varied from plain to high altitude thereby providing congenial altitudinal variations for the production of forest, cereal crops, vegetables, tropical and sub-tropical and temperate fruits. The economy of the states mainly depends on forest wealth, horticultural crops, agriculture and animal wealth. All these four components together contribute to the preservation of eco-system, soil conversation and healthy environment. The technical measures for conservation and development essentially are: