Majuli
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Contents |
2016: District status
The Times of India, Sep 09 2016
Anup Dutta
Assam's Majuli now India's 1st river island district
Assam's Majuli island, the seat of Vaishnavite culture, became India's first river island district. Minutes after holding a cabinet meeting of his go vernment at Majuli SDO's conference hall in Garmur, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the new district at 10.30 am. Jorhat deputy commissioner Virendra Mittal officially read out the government's notification to create Majuli, the state's 35th district.
“If we want to usher in an era of development in Majuli, everybody has to put in effort. Emergence of Majuli as a full-fledged district on the 90th birth anniversary of Bhupen Hazarika is indeed a matter of joy , pleasure and pride. Hazarika's... role towards transforming Satriya dance... is laudable,“ said Sonowal,who represents Majuli in the assembly. Majuli covers an area of 880 sqkm with a population of more than 2.5 lakh. It is also the largest riverine island in the world.
Carbon neutral status
The Times of India, December 15, 2016
Majuli to be India's first ever carbon neutral district
HIGHLIGHTS
The project - 'Sustainable Action for Climate Resilient Development in Majuli' has been initiated by Assam gov. It aims to combat climate change & reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Mitigation through forestry activities & biodiversity conservation will be the starting points for the carbon neutral agenda
Assam government has initiated a project to make river island Majuli the country's first ever Carbon Neutral district by 2020.
The project titled 'Sustainable Action for Climate Resilient Development in Majuli' (SACReD, Majuli) has been initiated by Assam's department of Environment and Forest and was launched by Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Biodiversity and Climate) A K Johari at Majuli.
The project, SACReD, Majuli has been initiated to combat climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Majuli Deputy Commissioner Pallav Gopal Jha said. Jha introduced the importance of climate-based decision making and highlighted the need for low emission development strategy for Majuli to ensure sustainable development.
Mitigation through forestry activities and biodiversity conservation will be the starting points for the carbon neutral agenda followed by other interventions over the next three years, Johari said. The project will be designed and implemented in partnership with other departments of the district for which a district level committee under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner has been constituted.
Customs
Eating beetles to fight pests
The Times of India, Sep 07 2016
Naresh Mitra
Many farmers have discovered a taste for the crunchy beetles locally known as `hati puk'. In fact, Majuli's new-found craze for beetles serves an ecolog ical purpose -pest control.“It's like eating prawns. All through April and May , we binged on them,“ Pankaj smiled. The insect Lepidiota mansueta would de stroy vast swathes of crops every year. The farmers hit upon the simple idea of eating their enemies with some help from scientists of Assam Agricultural University , Jorhat.
Hydroponics
2019: waiting for the floods
Naresh Mitra, July 13, 2019: The Times of India
From: Naresh Mitra, July 13, 2019: The Times of India
From: Naresh Mitra, July 13, 2019: The Times of India
From: Naresh Mitra, July 13, 2019: The Times of India
From: Naresh Mitra, July 13, 2019: The Times of India
From: Naresh Mitra, July 13, 2019: The Times of India
MAJULI: Every monsoon Assam is ravaged by devastating floods. While farmers in the rest of the state dread the colossal losses it spells, cultivators on the Majuli river island wait for the annual deluge. The reason: most farmers have now switched to hydroponics — or cultivation without soil — and more water means more ‘cropping area’.
Hydroponic technology includes growing plants in nutrient solutions that supply essential elements needed for growth. Special containers, called hydroponic trays, designed to hold plants are used. Several states have experimented with the technology, especially popular among green hobbyists and organic food proponents in urban centres, but in Majuli — the largest river island in the world — it is now a means of survival.
The Brahmaputra here, revered and feared in equal measure, swallows huge chunks of land as it meanders along. Originally 1,250 sq km in size, the river’s wrath has reduced Majuli to about one-third-- 480 sq km. The continuously shrinking landmass poses a challenge as at least half of its two lakh residents depend on it. The problem is compounded when nearly 80% of cultivated land goes under water every year during floods.
In 2016, the administration started thinking if the solution lay in switching to hydroponic farming. It can be cheaper than traditional agriculture since tilling and sowing are not required and it is not labour intensive. Moreover, the solvent can be recycled for reuse. Harvest cycles are the same as those of field cultivation -- about three to four months.
So all that was needed was to create ‘floating’ cultivation fields and convince farmers to adopt the new technology. The first part was easy. Majuli is dotted with natural and man-made water bodies with low currents. Many of these were earmarked as floating cultivation sites. But persuading farmers was easier said than done.
Farmers who were mainly cultivating rice, potato and yam were initially sceptical as most of them had never heard of growing crops without soil. “It took some time for farmers to warm up to the concept,” Debaprasad Misra, deputy commissioner of Majuli, told TOI.
But things changed. Today, 620-odd farmers are cultivating vegetables and herbs on 528 hydroponic trays – the equivalent of 10 acres of farmland. Farmers now have higher yields, more income and zero crop losses due to floods.
Pabitra Hazarika, a farmer at Kholihamari village in Majuli, said, “When there is high flood, I don’t lose my crop. Instead I float more hydroponic trays.” Over the years, Hazarika’s family-owned farmland has shrunk to 0.7 acre. “I realised I can’t feed my family if I continued traditional farming. I was barely making ends meet.” Hazarika was one of the first to adopt hydroponics.
Last month, farmers successfully grew flowering plants like marigold and tube rose on hydroponic trays. Winter greens like spinach, broccoli, scarlet globe and brown cabbage are next. Cost-return analysis shows income from hydroponic cultivation in Majuli is 3.58 times higher than expenditure. “Each tray produces yield equivalent to that in 0.002 acre of farmland and costs Rs 2,500. Harvest from 10 trays is 25 kg. Farmers make about Rs 5,000 in one harvest cycle of vegetables like okra and chilli. Herbs fetch more – about Rs 40,000 for Brahmi, pennywort, coriander and mint,” said Dipayan Dey, chairperson of South Asian Forum for Environment, a Kolkata-based organisation supporting the initiative.
In Majuli, costs of adopting the hydroponics system were kept down by using locally available resources. Most of the hydroponic trays — 8-ft wide and 8-ft long — were made with readily available bamboo. “The solvent we use is leach from vermicompost,” said Dey. He added, “Everywhere else, hydroponic cultivation is done in controlled room temperatures with nutrient solvents. Here, we improvised every step of the way. We arrived at the design, material size and capacity keeping in mind what natural resources are available locally.”
Hydroponic farming is just the first step for Majuli – chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s constituency – which aims to introduce a series of sustainable practices. In 2016, the government had announced its plan to make Majuli the country’s first carbon-neutral district. “Hydroponics offers an environment-friendly alternative to conventional farming practices. We also hope to go organic in a few years,” said deputy commissioner Misra.
1950 Assam earthquake changed Majuli's fate
Majuli, located about 350km from Guwahati, is the hub of Assam's neo-Vaishnvavite culture, and in 2016 became the first island to be made a district in India. But its future is grim. The island has been subject to incessant erosion of its banks by the Brahmaputra river, particularly after the great earthquake of 1950 (measuring 8.6) when a displacement of bedrock occurred. The earthquake raised the river floor, increased its load of sediment from the Himalayas and shifted some of its deeper channels, making Majuli susceptible to frequent flooding and subsequent erosion
