Himalayan Farming- Traditions and Skills in Nepal, Sikkim and Pakistan

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About the Book This book offers a fascinating inside look at farming traditions in some of the highest mountain This ranges on earth, capturing both continuity and change in mountain farming systems. These timeless images and insightful descriptions offer the reader glimpses of the lives of mountain people who have dedicated their lives to producing food for sustenance in a raw and challenging environment. Through their activities, these farmers have shaped and preserved their landscape as cultural heritage, helping to protect landscape values and the environment.

The Swiss horticulturist and photographer Frite Berger shares his experience from several years of working with farming communities in the Himalaya and his many visits thereafter. The book also provides an overview of the activities conducted by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) to promote appropriate solutions for mountain farmers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya.

Foreword I am pleased to present this photo book on farming in the Himalaya, a work that draws on decades of Fritz Berger's travels in Nepal, Pakistan, and India. These images form an important record of agriculture in the region - both of its traditional form and, in hindsight, its brisk evolution. If you go out into the villages today, some of the scenes in this book may be almost unrecognizable given how much agricultural techniques, tools, practices, and lifestyles have changed, in line with shifting challenges and goals.

These developments remind us that the Himalaya is a place of continuous, and in recent years, dramatic, change. But it would be remiss of us to forget the tools and techniques of the past, or that what we consider traditional had gone through its own process of refinement. We must not lose the lessons of the people who developed mountain agriculture over the centuries, which will offer clues about how we might tackle problems of the future. I am confident this book will act as a valuable repository of traditional knowledge for generations to come.

Introduction This book is my homage to the talent, traditions, and knowledge of the women and men in the Himalaya who work as farmers. This collection of photos portrays crop and livestock cultivation in parts of India, Nepal, and Pakistan from 1973-2010. The enormous varieties of herbs and vegetables that farmers have adapted to the mountain climate show promise for the future of sustainable agriculture everywhere. Apart from the skills, the photos in this book depict the great pride and confidence of these farmers who work the steep slopes and deep valleys among the highest mountains in the world.

The hard work and skills of these farmers over the centuries has laid the foundation for the physical and cultural achievements of society. This finds expression in the temples of the Kathmandu valley, the Buddhist monasteries in Nepal and Sikkim, and the wooden mosques of Pakistan. Farming, festivals, and faith were the "arts of life" for everyone across the Himalaya.

This rural mountain spirit also finds expression in the house décor, with its unique paintings and carvings, and in the ornate colour patterns of women's dresses and beautiful jewellery. These signifiers all testify to the deliberate weaving of faith, farming, and expression in the Himalaya.

**Contents and Sample Pages**