Outstanding Features

Koraput is a high land plateau with a number of hills and hillocks forming part of the Eastern Ghats.

The altitude ranges between 150 and 1500 metres above mean sea level. Mean average annual rainfall is 1521 mm, giving it a potentially productive agroclimate. Forest types range from semi-evergreen to dry deciduous. The whole area is drained by five major rivers namely Vansadhara, Nagavali, Indravati, Kolab and Mackanad and several tributaries and small perennial streams.

The district has the highest population growth in the state. Koraput is primarily a tribal district; more than 70% of the total population belongs to one of the district's 52 tribal groups. Some of the numerically large tribes in the district are Khond, Bhatada, Paroja, Bhumia, Bondas, etc.

Koraput region is endowed with impressive biodiversity. The Jeypore tract (undivided old Koraput district), is conceived by rice researchers a centre of genetic diversity and secondary center of origin of rice. The topographic diversity of the Koraput region has resulted in a wide diversity in ecosystems under which rice is cultivated: upland (unbunded as well as bunded), medium land (irrigated and rain fed) or low land condition. Within each ecosystem, innumerable rice varieties are grown depending on the local preferences for morphological characters (such as plant height, pigmentation of plant parts, grain shape and size, presence of awns) or cultural practices such as broadcasting, transplanting, food preparations (such as cooked rice, popped rice, puffed rice), palatability (aromatic or non-aromatic, etc.).

The official net sown area is around 25% of the total area of the region and is concentrated in plateaus and the wide river valleys. In the hilly areas, permanently cultivated fields can be as low as 10% of the landscape. 33% of the cultivated area is irrigated; paddy occupies around fifty percent of the cultivated lands. Upland paddy and ragi (finger millet) are cultivated on around one third of the cultivated area.

To supplement their income and sustain their livelihood, people depend on forest produce for fuel wood, material for construction of their houses, agricultural implements, timber and medicinal herbs. The tribal population depends on the low value non timber forest produces for their subsistence. They manage food from different forest produces including roots, tamarind, tamarind seeds, leaves, jackfruits and seeds, and mango stones.

The hill forests are used as agricultural fields by the tribal groups who practice slash and burn agriculture, which is also called shifting cultivation or locally “Podo” cultivation.

Significant use of the indigenous knowledge system by the tribal can be seen in their various agricultural practices. Considering the ecological limitations, tribal use the lands in the best way. This is also reflected in their food habit. Tribal on the hilly area take more minor millets compared to the tribal of the plain. Using their indigenous knowledge they take the viability test for seeds before sowing, maintain the soil fertility and conserve the landraces of rice and other crops. This knowledge has been transmitted from generation to generation among the family members.

The “Sacred grove” is an effective method of preserving plant genetic resources. It is a biological heritage as well as social mechanism by which a forest patch is protected. The concept of “sacred grove” is found deep rooted in the minds of different communities irrespective of their geographical locations. Even today some forest patches are left to local deities as a traditional custom. With large-scale destruction and rapidly dwindling forest cover in the Koraput district, it is highly noteworthy that in a large number of villages, the local communities have initiated the process of protection of degraded forest patches and allowed them to regenerate. This process of community initiated protection and management of degraded forestlands started since the early 1970ies. Amidst vast degraded landscape, one can see luxuriant tree growth. In addition, a large number of sacred groves in their primeval form are distributed throughout the Koraput district.

Goods and Services Provided

The region is a reservoir of rich floristic diversity consisting of about 2500 species of flowering plants, angiosperms, well known gymnosperms and 30 species of ferns. Due to isolation and physical barriers, nearly 4 percent endemism in the plant species has been reported in the region. About 79 plant angiosperm species and one gymnosperm are endemic and spread over 58 genera and 25 families, Fabaceae and Acanthaceae being the dominant families.

Studies carried out by the Botanical survey of India and National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources reveal that there is a rich assemblage of species useful for:

food: Amaraphophallus, Borassus, Cajanus, Caralluma, Cinnamommum, Citrus, Curcuma, Discoria, Glycine, Lablab, Limonia, Luffa, Mangifera, Momocardia, Musa, Oryza, Phylanthus, Phoenix, Piper, Rumex, Rubus, Sesamum, Setaria, Solanum, Sorghum, Syzygium, Zinziber etc.;

timber: Boswellia, Chloroxylon, Gmelina, Hardwichia, Pittisporum, Polyalthia, Shorea, Toona, Zanthozylum etc.;

medicinal purpose: Aegle, Caesalpinia, Costrus, Cissus, Embellica, Gymnea, Hypericum, Piper, Pogostemon, Psychortia, Rouvolfia. Sarcostomma, Solanum, Strychnos, Terminalia, Tinospora, Tylophora, Vanda etc.;

horticultural and ornamental value: Argyria, Bauhinia, Clematis, Cyanotis, Cycas, Dysophylla, Habenaria, Hardwickia, Oleo etc. and

fibre: Crotolaria and Decaschistia.

Rice is the predominant crop in the Jeypore area –both in terms of land as well as in terms of production. More than 40% of the land is under paddy cultivation. The other crops grown are maize, finger millet (Eleusine coracana), green gram (Vigna radiata), black gram (Vigna mungo), mustard (Brassica juncea), sesame (Sesamum orientale), groundnut (Arachis hypogea), etc. The tribal people in the hills grow minor millets, littlemillet (Panicum miliaceum), foxtail millet (Staria italica), niger (Guizotia abyssinica), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) and horse gram (Dolichos biflorus), etc.

The agrobiodiversity recorded in the region includes:

• 340 landraces of paddy, (24 aromatic, 27 flood resistant, 2 deep water and 1 drought resistant and some others are having characters like insect/ pest resistant, puffing quality, etc.)
• 8 species of minor millets,
• 9 species of pulses,
• 5 species of oil seeds,
• 3 species of fibrous plants,
• 7 species of vegetables

The tribal groups have rich traditional knowledge about forest species too. They identify and use plants for food, fodder, firewood, medicine, etc. for their subsistence. The Jeypore area is rich in genetic resources of medicinal plants: more than 1200 medicinal plant species are available in this area. Some of the endemic medicinal plant species of the region are used for curing different diseases like gastrointestinal disorders, malaria fever, bone fracture, etc. The healing system of the Jeypore area is apart from the Indian traditional medicinal system. Bioprospecting of such precious germplasm is likely to lead to the development of new drugs.

Threats and Challenges

Owing to shifting cultivation, not only the valuable forest wealth is destroyed but also the vegetative cover of the land is disturbed and soil is exposed. Rain water running down the slope carrying the fertile topsoil is causing hill and gully erosion. The impact of change in the microclimate of the region is also evident. Due to large scale degradation of the natural habitat, water scarcity has becoming a reality. In fact, the region with about 1600 mm of rainfall per year is affected by drought conditions for almost 7 to 8 months a year.

The forest was very rich in Sal, Peasal, Teak, Sisoo, Baja, Mohul, Bamboo, etc. However, during the last few decades, there has been a rapid increase in the deforestation rate leading to large scale degradation of forests. In 1960, the district had more than 65% of the total area under forest cover, but in 1990 it has come down to less than 30%. Indiscriminate collection has led to a severe depletion of bioresources including many unique land races and medicinal plants.

The people are facing challenges of unemployment and poverty. The majority of the people of these villages are tribal and illiterate. The family size is often large and the average farm holding is small. The socio-economic indicators in the area are comparable to the worst in the world with the percentage of people below the poverty line ranging from 72% to 83%, compared to 47% for Orissa and 26% for India. Unlike the rest of Orissa and India, the poverty incidence in this area has increased in the last two decades.

Policy and Development Relevance

Various developmental initiatives taken by the Government agencies do not always address resources of direct relevance to the local community. At the same time, there are several initiatives undertaken by the local Non-Governmental Organizations such as M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) to develop bottom up approaches for the management of the bioresources and link them with enhancement of the quality of life of the people.

MSSRF has been taking a leading role in this region for enabling tribal and rural families to derive economic benefit from their past and present contributions to the conservation of genetic resources.

Jeypore tract being the center of origin and genetic diversity of rice has drawn the attention of rice biosystematics, geneticists and conservationists for the last half a century. In recent years the place has again gained importance with regard to farmer's rights and on-farm conservation, which are new dimensions of genetic resources conservation. It is, therefore, desirable that the situation should not only be reviewed but also understood in proper perspective. In addition, large repository of medicinal plant resources can also be beneficially used for economic empowerment of tribal and rural communities.

During 1955-60, the Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack (India) collected about 1,800 landraces of rice. In a similar effort during 1995-96 made by MSSRF, only about 350 land races of rice could be collected from the same area. This indicates the rate of loss of genetic diversity in a span of forty years. The area, therefore, makes an excellent case for ecosystem approach to agricultural biodiversity conservation and management.

In 1994, an initiative was taken to give recognition to the efforts of farmers as conservers and cultivators, resulting in the formulation of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act 2001 (PPVFR) in the drafting of which MSSRF played a major role. In addition to acknowledging the important role played by farmers as cultivators, it also recognizes the role of tribal and rural farming women and men as conservers and enhancers of agro-biodiversity, and legally provides for their recognition and monetary reward. The PPVFR Act allows temporary ownership rights on plant varieties to those who have developed them, including farmers or a community of farmers. The biodiversity Act 2002 establishes sovereign right over biological resources, it seeks to promote their conservation and sustainable use and gives an entitlement for equitable sharing of benefits from commercialization of biodiversity or associated traditional knowledge to those communities, who had conserved or created it.

High yields from local landraces of rice having been established, their cultivation has been encouraged for sale in the market. Some are sold as grain and others after value addition as puffed rice, or other attractive food items. Awareness about market demand for local landraces with special characteristics like fragrance, taste, and medicinal properties has been created. Some farm families have been encouraged to take up organic farming, which has reduced the need for expensive purchased inputs and led to a renewal of interest in the cultivation of native varieties.

As a result, the area under local landraces has increased. Marketing of local landraces, medicinal plants and organic cultivation have had an impact on local incomes. Work is in progress to promote further production of seeds and grain of Kalajeera rice and marketing under a brand name.

Global Importance

The MSSRF's efforts in creating partnership in conservation of biodiversity and reduction of poverty involving tribal women and men in Jeypore, Orissa was one of 25 projects that were awarded the “Equator Initiative's Innovative Partnerships Award” for Sustainable Development in Tropical Ecosystems at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in August 2002.

The extraordinary biological and agricultural diversity of the Koraput region (many endemic species, centre of origin of rice and many landraces) is significant in global context and needs to be protected as a heritage for humankind.

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Project proposal