Gautam Mukhopadhaya, former Indian Ambassador to Syria, Afghanistan, and Myanmar, draws on his experience in conflict zones and the Northeast to propose a nature-based vision for agriculture in Manipur’s Sadar Hills. He advocates a balanced farming model that blends smallholder strength with ecological and economic resilience. This four-part series, adapted from an address in Kangpokpi, retains local relevance while offering broader insights for the region. In this second installment, Ambassador Mukhopadhaya deepens his call for a regenerative future by urging a return to nature not merely as a resource, but as the living foundation of all life
BY Gautam Mukhopadahya
The Holistic Web of Life – Beyond Utility, Towards Regeneration
Building on the initial conceptual framework, this section further elaborates on the intrinsic value of nature moving beyond economic utility to underscore its fundamental role as the basis of all life. It details the holistic ‘chain of nature’ that is essential for successful farming, advocating a critical shift in how natural resources are perceived and protected.
Beyond banking metaphors and utilitarian perspectives, nature—encompassing air, water, trees, organisms, microbes and fungi—is the indispensable basis of all life. To destroy or degrade it is to imperil not just ourselves but all living beings, risking a cycle of death replacing the cycle of life. Some legal jurisdictions worldwide have, in fact, incorporated the rights of nature, the environment, animals, and botanical life into their constitutions, often driven by indigenous peoples in historically colonized regions. As tribals, such philosophies, rooted in traditional knowledge that contend that rivers, plants, and even stones, are ‘alive’, are intrinsic to cultures that live in the lap of nature. Perhaps, modern materialism has distanced us from that awe and reverence for nature. As tribal communities, we must introspect if this is so, and why.
Crucially, the direct link between the environment, particularly forests and rivers, and farming, though seemingly obvious, is often not generally realized, and by most within our own communities. Floods and soil erosion are the direct consequences of destructive human activities like deforestation, poppy cultivation and irresponsible mining. Yet, they are too frequently dismissed as ‘acts of God’ rather than human-made disasters.
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Moreover, typically, agriculture is commonly perceived even among experts primarily as a function of soil health and seeds. The prevailing belief is that successful farming simply requires healthy soil (achieved through chemical or organic fertilizers) and quality seeds (often hybrid and lab-developed, and of course, water regardless of its overuse or sustainability).
Part 1: A Roadmap for Green Farming in the Northeast Hills#Manipur #SadarHills #NorthEastIndia #HillEconomies #TribalLandRights #SaveOurForests #Natureconomics https://t.co/xAZmKw98dO
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This view, however, is dangerously simplistic. Contrary to what appears, farming is part of a much larger, intricate chain of nature. This chain begins with our mountains and forests, which catalyze precipitation, help retain groundwater by slowing runoff, and facilitate its distribution through rivers, surface water bodies, and underground aquifers to nourish the earth and soil. This foundational generative process generates botanical and zoological life, and the seeds and organisms that propagate and sustain that life within a specific ecology, all of which are finally harnessed by human knowledge and labour for our daily bread.
Humankind is merely the last element in this holistic and indivisible chain, intricately bound to each other and the environment. To preserve and sustain farming, we must first prioritize the preservation of our forests, rivers, nature and the earth. Only then can we continue to farm. Rather than viewing forests, trees, wildlife and rivers as entities to be plundered at will for immediate need or greed, we must protect them as invaluable natural capital and a shared community resource.
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A remarkable illustration of this vertical relationship can be found in the Zabo/Ruza system of the Pochury Nagas of Kikruma village in Phek district of Nagaland where forests in the upper reaches are protected to filter into ground water, and the middle heights are harnessed for water reservoirs that are then channelized into rice fields in the lower terraces. Many encouraging examples of contour farming using Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT) and other methods are to be found in parts of Meghalaya, Nagaland and western Manipur too.
