Uttarakhand - Department of Land Resources

nation. The Terms of reference of the 13th Finance Commission states that in making
its recommendations, the Commission should consider "the need to manage ecology,
environment and climate change consistent with sustainable development."
It is essential to regenerate degraded forest and wastelands. A large area of degraded
land in the state can be reclaimed as most of the land needs only basic water and soil
conservation measures and some amount of plantation and protective work. Agroforestry
can play an immensely important role in the rural economy. The wasteland can
be converted to grow plants, fodder and fuel. All the hill districts have more than 60 per
cent of the area under forest. Thus, many of the livelihood options in these regions
depend on forest-based products. The maximum pasture and grazing land is in
Bageshwar, Champawat and Pithoragarh; this is crucial for better fodder availability for
livestock in these districts. Champawat also has large tracts of fallow land due to
poverty, lack of water and the un-remunerative nature of farming.
LIVESTOCK
Uttarakhand has a mix of almost all domesticated species of livestock, very large in
numbers and very low in productivity, across the board. In economic terms they are a
wealth indeed, low productivity not-withstanding, as the sector supports livelihoods of
nearly 80 per cent of the rural households in the state, at least in part in the majority of
cases and in full in some (tribals and nomads exclusively living off livestock).
Livestock production in Uttarakhand is the endeavour of the small holder (marginal,
small and landless) and takes place in millions of small and tiny holdings scattered
across the state. The predominant farming system is mixed crop-livestock farming, both
in the plains as well as the hills, irrigated in the plains and rain fed in the hills.
Individual livestock holdings are small (5 or 6 animals), often made up of a mix of
different species, the combination made up invariably of cattle and or buffalo and goat.
Cattle are the most popular species and are farmed for milk production in the plains
(commercial); and in the hills for work animal production as well as for milk for home
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