Aquaculture potential for integrated watershed development in Shiwalik and North Western Himalayas: problems and prospects.

摘要

To conceptualize Himalayan aquaculture and identify existing practices, constraints and opportunities in the Shiwalik foothills and other North Western Himalayan tracts, a field study comprising a regional survey in three representative blocks, eachin Kumaon (Jaspur), Garhwal (Sahespur) and Shiwalik foot hill plain (Sukhomajri) was initiated in February 1997. The survey indicated that aquaculture development in Himalayas can take pressure off the fragile ecosystem, where the existing agriculture suffers from on-site and off-site effects of deforestation, soil erosion and nutrient loss, and unsustainable farming practices such as cultivation on slopes and extensive monoculture. Aquaculture and water harvesting are currently restrained by various biological, structural and watershed complexities particularly in Himalayan regions. If watershed based promotion of the efficient utilization of natural resources in integration with other sectors of upland economy, promoting Integrated Farming Systems (IFS), is adopted, increases in fisheries yield and thereby better socioeconomic conditions would result.