Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems

Also called: GIAHS · Topic: Land Use, Farming Systems and Cropping Seasons in India · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 1 "The Story of Indian Farming"

Meaning

Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) is a list kept by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). It names traditional farming systems that matter for three things: their ecology (nature), their culture and the livelihoods (ways of earning a living) of the people who farm them. The programme was launched at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Johannesburg [3].

It matters because it gives world recognition to old farming knowledge that saves soil, water and crop diversity. India has three GIAHS sites: Pampore saffron (Kashmir, 2011), Koraput (Odisha, 2012) and Kuttanad below-sea-level farming (Kerala, 2013) [2].

Explanation

What makes a farming system "heritage"

• The core idea: traditional farmers treat the plant and the soil as one living system. To feed the plant, they feed the soil.
• Farmyard manure (dung, urine and crop waste) goes back into the soil.
• It feeds soil organisms such as earthworms and microbes.

• These organisms keep the soil fertile.

• A GIAHS site is valued on three grounds:

• Ecology: it protects soil, water and the variety of plants and animals.
• Culture: the knowledge has been passed down over many generations.

• Livelihoods: local families still depend on it for food and income.

• Who runs it: the FAO. The programme started at WSSD 2002, Johannesburg [3].

The three Indian sites and how each one works

• Pampore saffron heritage (Kashmir, J&K), 2011

• Farmers around Pampore have grown saffron here for centuries.

• Traditional agriculture of Koraput (Odisha), 2012

• Forest management goes together with the crop diversity kept alive by tribal farmers.
• Their crops include many types of paddy, plus millets, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables.

• Saving and swapping local seeds keeps this diversity alive.

• Kuttanad below-sea-level farming (Kerala), 2013 [2]

• How the land was made: delta swamps with brackish water (a mix of salt water and fresh water) were drained to create farmland [2].
  • Dykes (raised earth walls) were built to hold back the water.
  • The water inside was pumped out.
  • Paddy is now grown about 1–3 m below sea level.
• Farmers here have farmed below sea level for over 150 years [2].

Parts of the Kuttanad system (the most-tested Indian GIAHS)

• Polders (low land enclosed by bunds) are used to redirect water [2].
• Bunds (mud walls around fields) are made of coconut by-products, sand and clay. Farmers make them stronger depending on how high the floodwater rises [2].
• Padasekhara committees (field committees) share the cost of repairing the bunds. Each farmer pays according to the size of their land [2].
• Thanneermukkom barrier: this barrier stops sea water from entering Kuttanad during the paddy season [2].
• Three parts of the landscape [2]:
• wetlands for paddy and fishing
• garden lands for coconut and food crops

• water areas for inland fishing and shellfish

• Mixed farming: rice is combined with fishing and duck rearing. Ducks are let into the fields right after the rice harvest [2].

Where it occurs

• Programme: run worldwide by the FAO. It was launched at WSSD 2002, Johannesburg [3].
• India's three sites (NCERT Class 7, Fig. 1.20):

Site	State / UT	Year	Key feature
Pampore saffron heritage	Kashmir (J&K)	2011	Saffron grown for centuries
Traditional agriculture of Koraput	Odisha	2012	Forest management with tribal crop diversity (paddy, millets, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables)
Kuttanad below-sea-level farming	Kerala	2013 [2]	Paddy grown 1–3 m below sea level

• Kuttanad's location: a delta region on the west coast of Kerala, next to Vembanad lake [2]. The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) proposed it to the FAO [2].
• Pattern on the map: in order of year, the sites run north (Kashmir) → east (Odisha) → south-west (Kerala).

Don't confuse with

• Zabo system (Nagaland): a traditional system of the Chakhesang Nagas of Kikruma, Phek district. It joins forest, ponds, cattle yards and rice-and-fish paddies. It is not one of India's three GIAHS sites in NCERT.
• Terrace farming (Uttarakhand) and Kulagar (Goa): both are traditional systems taught in the same chapter. Terraces are steps cut into hill slopes, and Kulagar is the homestead gardens of the Konkani people. Neither is on India's GIAHS list.
• UNESCO World Heritage Sites: UNESCO lists cultural and natural places. GIAHS is an FAO list, and it covers only living farming systems.
• "Rice bowl of Kerala" vs "below sea level": both describe Kuttanad. The first refers to its share of about 25% of Kerala's rice [2]. The second refers to how its paddy is grown.

Prelims Hooks

• GIAHS is run by the FAO, not UNESCO. It was launched at WSSD 2002, Johannesburg [3].
• Order by year: Pampore saffron, Kashmir (2011) → Koraput, Odisha (2012) → Kuttanad, Kerala (2013) [2].
• Kuttanad is the only place in India where rice is grown below sea level, about 1–3 m under it. It lies next to Vembanad lake [2].
• Thanneermukkom barrier: it keeps sea water out of Kuttanad during the paddy season [2].
• Koraput (Odisha) pairs with tribal crop diversity and forest management. A common trap is to swap it with Kuttanad's wetland farming.
• MSSRF proposed Kuttanad to the FAO. Padasekhara committees share the cost of keeping the bunds in repair [2].

Mains Points

• Heritage systems are models for farming that can cope with climate change (GS-I, GS-III).
• Koraput keeps many crop varieties alive, which lowers the risk of total crop failure.
• Kuttanad combines rice, fish and ducks, and manages water through polders and bunds [2].

• These are lessons for sustainable farming and for keeping biodiversity safe.

• These systems are under threat (GS-III, environment and disasters).

• In Kuttanad, fish species fell from 150 to 36 over three decades. Many are now critically endangered or have disappeared from the region [2].
• Kuttanad was badly hit by the 2018 Kerala floods. Sea water can also get in if the barrier is not managed well.

• Policy responses: GIAHS recognition, management of the Thanneermukkom barrier, and shared bund upkeep by padasekhara committees [2].

• Traditional knowledge is backed by science.

• ICAR recorded about 5,000 traditional practices and tested over a hundred of them. Over 85% of those tested were found scientifically valid.
• This supports protecting GIAHS sites as living stores of knowledge for natural farming and soil health.

Related concepts

• Indian Council of Agricultural Research
• Zabo system
• Kuttanad below-sea-level farming

Read more

• The story of Indian farming: ancient knowledge and traditional systems