Uttarakhand - Department of Land Resources

Thus the main issues which need to be addressed are:-
Untapped diversity;
Identifying niche areas for developing specific crops;
Acidic & shallow soils in Hills due to soil erosion;
Decreasing humus content in soils in plains due to high use of chemicals;
Social inequalities as there are fragmented and scattered land holdings and there
are limited opportunities of diversifying the crops due to smallholdings;
Area under Pulses and Oilseeds are currently low;
Productivity of the hills very low;
Gender inequality as women workforce in agriculture constitutes to about 80
percent;
Agriculture in the state is rainfed;
Very high transportation cost for agricultural marketing.
CHALLENGES FOR WATER SECURITY
The annual rainfall in Uttarakhand is 1700 mm (NABARD 2004); however the total
number of rainy days is about 100; and most (95%) of the precipitation that falls in
the catchment area as surface water, is lost due to steep slopes and mountainous
terrain. The total annual requirement of the human population, animal population,
agriculture and industry is estimated to be around 3% of the annual precipitation
received.
The state has about 0.55 million ha of un-irrigated land and the majority of it falls in
the hilly areas of the state, which is also home to the poorer sections of the
populace. 47.42% of persons in the state are Below Poverty Line (Planning
Commission 2006) and the most vulnerable sections are living in the hilly areas of
the state.
Given the dependence on glacial melts for water the state‟s vulnerability to water
resources has increased with fast receding glacial melts and the consequent
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