Climate Change is getting real for Sikkim’s farmers

There is the data, and then there are the realities on ground. In Sikkim’s case, both

point towards a perceptible change in weather patterns which are being felt most

acutely in the farms and fields. The sixth installment of the Spotlight series delves

into how climate change is changing the haats in Sikkim and how the experts and

the farmers see and explain it…

“…but the rain failed us”

Tshering Eden

After about an hour on the road from Gangtok, a signboard welcomed us to the

village of Rey Mindu in East Sikkim. We were meeting Nima Lepcha, a farmer and

community leader, to enquire if farming in the area had been affected in any way by

changes in the weather or climate. At their house, his son received us and we

walked up to the terrace from where we got to enjoy an impressive view of Gangtok.

The village lies on the hill right across the capital. Over a delicious spread of khuri

[traditional Lepcha dish of cheese and spinach wrapped in thin buckwheat

pancakes], boiled eggs [of local variety of poultry], chutney and some tea, "all

organic" according to Mr Lepcha, we got talking.

Two or three years ago, the villagers had made an attempt at large scale farming

which sadly ended with farmers incurring huge losses, so much so, that many of

them prefer to leave their lands fallow or attempt cash crops rather than risk any

more losses. The reason - the rains did not come on time.

IT’S BEEN RAINING WRONG

"We sow seeds following traditional farming practices, according to the time and

weather patterns of earlier times. Supporting the state's organic mission, we had

invested lakhs of rupees but the rain failed us. Crops like buckwheat and mustard

started sprouting flowers when they were just a couple of inches high. The farmers

had toiled hard but we did not get even 10% return on our investment,"says Mr

Lepcha.

While experts are hesitant to accrue changes in the weather pattern to climate

change, for the layman these changes are becoming more and more evident and

difficult to ignore. The month of April (2018), in progress right now, is, or rather used

to be, the spring season in Sikkim characterized by pleasant weather leaving behind

the bitter cold of the winter months. Although brief, this was the season to enjoy

splendid blooms under sunny skies, before the monsoons came along. April is also

the time for wildfires due to the dry weather. However, we are now already

experiencing daily showers in Sikkim.

"Earlier the wettest months were June, July and August but now there is good rainfall

even in April-May while there has been a drop in rainfall in June. At the same time,

volume of rain in Aug and Sept has decreased," says Dr RK Avasthe, Joint Director,

ICAR-NOFRI, Sikkim.

photo caption: "When the 'kakuk' came we would sow rice and maize when the 'chugdun'

arrived. Birds follow the river's route but now, they have lost their way..." - Nima Lepcha

He further states that the monitoring system in place at the ICAR complex in Tadong

has recorded data for the last 37 years which shows that there has been a"serious"

change in the climate in the State.

Agriculture in Sikkim is predominantly rain-fed which means a change in the rainfall

pattern can have drastic effect on crops. The timing of rainfall plays an important role

and traditional farming practices rely heavily on this. Light rainfall just before the

sowing season prepares the soil for sowing while heavy rainfall, at the right time, is

also required to inundate paddy fields.

As per our traditional knowledge, there are different kinds of rainfall that are defined

on the basis of their timing, intensity, duration, etc. A study titled 'Climate change and

sustainability of agrodiversity in traditional farming of the Sikkim Himalaya' by

Ghanashyam Sharma and Lalit Kumar Rai talks about some of these.

Naurathey jhari is rain that continues for a few days during Navaratra before

Dusshera festival in October-November when paddy is getting ready to flower and

requires plenty of water. Farmers believe that this rain helps paddy flower well

indicating a good harvest. There is the Makurey jhari during Shravana (late July),

when spiders start constructing their webs everywhere in the fields and forest areas.

Indigenous people believe that it is a sign of a few days of rainfall.

Apart from untimely rain, the intensity of rainfall has also changed in the past 17

years according to Dr Avasthe.

"In the last 17 years we have recorded lot of variation in rainfall. There has been an

insignificant decrease in volume but serious drop in the number of rainy days."

What this means is that we are getting the same amount of rain but in shorter more

intense bursts. We no longer experience the continuous drizzle that monsoons in the

hills were characterized by. This does not augur well for agriculture as this kind of

rain washes away the topsoil and because it flows fast, does not seep into the earth

to provide proper moisture to crops. It could also cause water logging that could

damage vegetable crops.

Dr Avasthe points out that the number of extreme rainfall events [beyond 60 mm in

an hour] have been increasing for more than a decade now.

Another important change in rainfall patterns has been the lack of it in the winter

months.

"In the last 12 years there has been a serious absence of winter rainfall. Winter

vegetables are very important for a small state like Sikkim, especially now when

there is emphasis on organic vegetable production in the state. This means more

dependence on stored or harvested water which we hardly have. We cannot have

huge water harvesting structures because of the terrain. Also, the storage capacity of

soil has decreased. In winter, long hours of sunshine mean loss of moisture from the

soil through evaporation and from the plants themselves via transpiration, together

called evapo-transpiration, which has become very high now," says Dr Avasthe.

Even the Sikkim State Action Plan on Climate Change notes, "There will be a total

shift in cropping pattern. With winter becoming drier, there will be a shift from two

crops to a single monsoon crop."

Orange orchards in Lower Payong, Suntaley, have been erratic for the past few

years. According to a farmer from the area, Prem Prasad Bhattarai, winter rain

provides the soil with much needed moisture before the monsoons begin but the lack

of it over the last few years has resulted in extremely dry conditions during winter

leading to crop failure. He also mentions how the earth is dry and hot during winters

stressing the orange orchards, which supports Dr Avasthe's evapo-transpiration

theory.

Mr Bhattarai is also of the opinion that the low lying belts have been suffering the

most due to changes in the weather patterns because they tend to get hotter and the

soil loses even more moisture compared to orchards on higher elevations.

While rainfall is the most important source of moisture needed for agriculture,

snowfall and natural springs also play a supplementary role and in that area too,

there is bad news. Natural springs have been used by farmers to irrigate fields when

rain is sparse and these have been gradually dying although efforts are currently on

like the Dhara Vikas programme to revive such springs. Also, traditional knowledge

speaks of Bhadaurey jhari, rainfall between 15 July - 15 August as recharging

perennial springs and seasonal springs for continuous irrigation of the paddy fields.

Weather conditions aside, there is also the variety of crops being cultivated today to

be considered.

Indigenous varieties are more adaptable to changes compared to hybrids and Sikkim

has lost many of its indigenous crops. We are not even sure of how many we have

lost since there is no baseline data to compare present numbers with.

THE HEAT IS ON

Aiti Maya and Man Maya of Aho, East Sikkim, have been selling kinema [fermented

soyabean] at Lal Bazaar, Gangtok, for the last 30 years. After boiling the soyabeans,

a little wood ash is traditionally added to start the fermentation process. Prevailing

temperatures play an important role in determining how long the fermentation

process takes.

"I learnt how to make kinema from my mother-in-law and she used to add a little

wood ash back then. Nowadays we don’t add anything and it ferments just fine.

Compared to before the fermentation also takes less time nowadays," says 60-year-

old Aiti Maya.

photo caption: Aiti Maya, Phul Maya and Man Maya have been selling kinema at Lal Bazaar

for the past 30 years. Ask them about which indigenous farm produce has gone out of

production and they will share that “local” rice is not grown on scale any more, with a few

farmers still growing it doing so only for their own consumption. For the rest, it is either the

PDS route or the commonly grown variants available in the markets.

Rise in temperatures could very well be the reason behind this change they are

talking about.

Minimum temperatures in Sikkim have increased by 2.5 degree Celsius between

1957 and 2009 while the average annual temperatures are expected to rise by 1.8 to

2.1 degree Celsius by 2030s [SSAPCC].

“The mean minimum temperature has been increasing at the rate of 0.07 degree

Celsius in Sikkim every year which is probably the highest in the country and this is a

matter of concern. A rise in minimum temperatures is more worrying than a rise in

maximum temperatures because it has wide ranging effects. Climate change, apart

from various other factors, is responsible for this,” Meteorology In-Charge, Gangtok,

Dr GN Raha had said in an interview to this correspondent in 2014.

Rise in minimum temperatures can cause havoc in terms of pushing the treeline

higher, while also giving rise to new kinds of pests and diseases in the farmer's fields

as well as infesting new species of weeds.

The effects are already being felt.

"New kinds of pests have come which we don’t recognize. For instance, nowadays

there is a pest that is attacking dalley [cherry pepper] and tomatoes. If there is a scar

on the dalley, when you open it you will find a small insect inside that jumps up and

down. We haven't seen this one ever before. Even our parents cannot identify this

pest," says Nima Lepcha.

Because of rising temperatures, pests are now successfully finding hosts throughout

the year and this makes it difficult to control them, says Dr Avasthe. There are new

insects like the Tea Mosquito Bug and there is higher incidence of fruit flies in

oranges and different types of gourds.

photo caption: Naturalist Nosang M Limboo and his team spotted this Peacock Pansy

Junonia almana butterfly at Chipchipey, a small glade at 3,289 meter in extreme

western part of Sikkim towards Singalila Range on 04 Apr 2018. According to Mr

Limboo, this species has never been seen at this altitude before; the previous

elevation where the butterfly has been recorded being 2,100 meter. However he said

that it needs to be confirmed whether the butterfly breeds in the area, or whether it

was migrating or whether it was merely a straggler blown unwillingly to that

elevation. It is, however, also more probable that climate change brought this

butterfly higher up.

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker in his'Himalayan Journals' first published in 1854 cites

lack of direct sunlight in the ripening season, heavy rainfall and extremely low winter

temperatures as some of the reasons for the inability of most fruits to ripen or survive

in Sikkim.

"Hence it appears that, though some English fruits will turn the winter solstice of

Bengal [November to May] into summer, and then flower and fruit, neither these nor

others will thrive in the summer of 7,000 feet on the Sikkim Himalaya, [though its

temperature so nearly approaches that of England] on account of its rain and fogs,"

he observes.

That was then. Today, Rey Mindu in East Sikkim is able to grow a guava variety that

was earlier thought possible only in warmer climes of the plains. Mangoes that would

never mature enough to produce any sweetness now do.

"The 47 Allahabad Safeda variety of guava, one of the most famous Indian guavas,

now grows here. It didn’t before. Even mango, which before would be sour, now

ripens fully and is sweet," says Mr Lepcha.

While one could see this in a positive light for the added variety of fruits Sikkimese

can now enjoy, there are other, almost sinister changes that are creeping in. An

invasive species of weed 'Lantana' that grows in warmer regions can now be seen

even at higher altitudes here. Dr Awasthe says that it is spreading very fast across

the state which is not good because it wipes out everything else around it.

Meanwhile, indigenous weeds like the banmara, titey paati, sisnu, etc have some

value but are quickly being replaced by invasive species that are not indigenous.

photo caption: THE STRANGE CASE OF EARLY FLOWERING OF

RHODODENDRONS

Rhododendrons, the State Tree of Sikkim, are now flowering a month or more earlier

than they used to. According to observations made by researchers at GB Pant

Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, the flowering season has

shifted from March-April to February-March.

Rhododendron saplings/ seedlings were even found growing way above their original

habitat which means they are climbing to higher and colder altitudes. In the case of

Rhododendron niveum it was found growing at an altitude which extends above its

original site at Yakchay inside the Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary in North

Sikkim.

This is happening at different eco-zones with most of the rhododendron species at

the same time and with wild as well as cultivated varieties.

Although researchers say that the exact reason behind this is not known yet and a

proper investigation is needed, they do suspect global warming and rise in

temperatures as causing the early flowering of rhododendrons in Sikkim as well as

Darjeeling and their climbing to higher elevations.

Interestingly, the dairy industry in Sikkim has had to bear losses due to the rising

mercury levels. In 2010-11, milk worth Rs 10.5 lakh was lost to curdling and the

percentage of curdled milk has been increasing every year. In 2007-08 it was 2.05%

while in 2010-11 it was 2.71%.

A report by former Managing Director of Sikkim Milk Union, P Senthil Kumar, on

impact of climate change and adaptation measures in dairy sector of Sikkim, states

that the main reason behind this is the rise in temperature and unexpected torrential

and erratic rains which causes road blocks, thereby resulting in delay in

transportation.

SO WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE US

Rise in minimum temperatures and erratic rainfall patterns are to blame for many

other changes, the cascading effects of which can and are already manifesting

around us.

As Nima Lepcha says -

"During my father's time, the arrival of certain birds signalled the sowing season of

different crops. When the 'kakuk' came we would sow rice and maize when the

'chugdun' arrived. Birds follow the river's route and now, they have lost their way

because of changes in the climate, vegetation and hydel projects along the river

which have dried up the resting places for these migratory birds."

We all know that a single change in the ecosystem can cause a domino effect

wherein every component of the system is adversely affected. So, the implications of

the disappearance or even the late arrival of one bird can be devastating in the long

run. It could, in the end, determine what is served on our plates and consequently

the very survival of the human species.

[The writer is Features Editor, Summit Times]