Traditional Farming and Soil Quality Analysis of Paddy Field of Ziro Valley of Arunachal Pradesh

Abstract

The Apatanis are the inhabitants of the Ziro valley who migrated to this valley from northern area beyond Khru and Kime river. They practice settled agriculture. Their traditional agriculture is unique in that both paddy and fish are cultivated together in the same plot. The farming is no tillage farming. No chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used and so it is totally organic. The paper seeks to study the climatic condition and the overall cultivation process of paddy cum fish in Ziro valley and average field size, source of water, variety of rice and fish used and yield in eight selected villages. Soil parameters of paddy fields like P^H, organic carbon, phosphorous, Iron and texture of five selected villages are tested chemically. All the villages use stream water to irrigate the paddy fields. They use an indigenous variety of paddy and fish. Colorimetric method and Atomic absorption spectrophotometry have used to estimate these parameters. P^H of the soil is slightly acidic. Organic carbon and Iron content are found high.