AGRICULTURAL HISTORY OF ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS
The
Andaman islands have been inhabited for
several thousand years, at the very least. The earliest
archaeological evidence yet documented goes back some 2,200 years; however, the
indications from genetic, cultural, and isolation studies suggest that the
islands may have been inhabited as early as the Middle Paleolithic .
The
Andamans are theorized to be a
key stepping stone in a great coastal migration of humans from Africa
via the Arabian peninsula , along the
coastal regions of the Indian mainland, and towards Southeast Asia, Japan, and
Oceania.
The first empire to list the islands
under its territory was the Maratha Empire. Rajendra Chola I (1014 to 1042 CE) one of the Chola dynasty kings
conquered the islands to use them as its strategical navy base against the
Srivijaya Empire(a Buddhist-Malay empire
based on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia). They called the islands Tinmaittivu
or the impure islands.
The history of organized European colonization began when the Danish settlers of the Danish East India Company arrived at the Nicobar islands on 12 December 1755. On 1 January 1756, the Nicobar Islands were made a Danish colony, first named New Denmark. But this colony did not last very long as most of the empire was wiped out because of the outbreaks of Malaria by 1848. It was only the British who can then be called the true colonizers of the island.
The British resumed control over the
island in the 19th century. During the 19th century as the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands history maintains, the British used Andaman and Nicobar as a penal
colony, which was named ‘Kalapani‘ or the
Cellular Jail. The history of Andaman and Nicobar Islands proves that criminals
convicted of a crime against the East India Company were sent to Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, with a life sentence: the convicts were forced to live in
exile in the Kalapani.
Agriculture in these islands is not
very old. The original inhabitants of Andaman lived in isolation and depend on
the food on forest products, fish and wild animals, etc. for their survival.
The cultivation of crops was unknown to them. In the Nicobar group of islands,
the tribal has been growing plantation crops like coconut and areca nut for
centuries. It is, reported that they used to exchange coconut and areca nut for
rice and cloth, etc. with foreign shippers visiting these islands from China,
Malaysia, and Indonesia.
A handful of other Anglo-Indians and
country-born men and women traveled to the Islands too, and they were
considerably more successful than this organized party. They included George
and Dorothy Deakes who, three years after they first arrived in 1923, were
granted a thirty-year license for over fifty acres of land on Mount Harriet.
They built a house, made improvements to the land, cleared the jungle, planted
fruit and vegetable orchards, kept cows and poultry, and established betel as
well as coconut plantations. Eurasians and Anglo-Indians occupy a central place
in the history of the Andaman Islands.
The islands got freedom from
Japanese occupation on October 7, 1945, and from British colonial rule on
August 15, 1947. He also created the first Independent Government
and renamed Andaman Island as “Shaheed” and Nicobar Island as “Swaraj” and
appointed INA General A. D. Loganathan as the Governor of these Islands. This
island is therefore considered as the first independent state
of India .The two sets of islands became a
union territory of the Republic of India in 1956.
Department of Revenue and Agriculture
and Commerce was set up in June 1871 to deal with all the agricultural matters
in India. Until this ministry was established, matters related to agriculture
were within the portfolio of the Home Department.
In 1881, the Department of Revenue and
Agriculture was set up to deal with combined portfolios of education, health,
agriculture, revenue. However, In 1947, the Department of Agriculture was
redesignated as Ministry of Agriculture.
In Andaman and Nicobar Islands ,
the department of agriculture was established in
1945 to develop agriculture in these islands in a
systematic and scientific line.
Rajendra Prasad was elected by the
Constituent Assembly in the year 1946 to be appointed as the first President of
India. He assumed his role in office in the year 1950.
The Ministry of Agriculture was renamed
the Ministry for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare on 15 August 2015, to take
care of the farming community needs.
Since 1945 the department of
Agriculture is playing a vital role in the overall development of agriculture
in the Islands by experimenting at the agricultural stations with all crops of
local importance and in demonstrating the proven results of these experiments
on the cultivator’s plots. Seeds and seedlings of some of the best varieties in
yield and quality cultivated in the mainland have been imported and distributed
to cultivators. The Department also devotes its attention to the introduction
of newly improved implements and manures and organizing training camps for
farmers all over the Islands and conducting study tours to the mainland to make
them aware of most modern techniques of cultivation and adopting the same in
their field.
On the recommendation of the royal
commission report of 1928, the imperial council of agricultural research was
established on 16 July 1929. The organization was renamed the Indian council of
agricultural research after independence. The icar has been described as the
research wing of the ministry of agriculture government of India performing a
variety of functions including preparation of national research policies and
priorities and linking them with the governments' development objectives
through its research institutions spread across the country in different
agro-ecological regions.
Realizing the importance of Island
agriculture to meet the requirements of the local population and tourists, the
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) established Central Island
Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair on June 23rd, 1978 by merging
different regional research stations of ICAR institutes located in Islands. The
ultimate aim of CIARI is the development of island agricultural production
technologies that utilize the strengths of the island and convert the
constraints into opportunities, without causing any ill effect to the fragile
ecosystem of the island.
In addition, it has three Krishi Vigyan
Kendras located one each at Sippighat, Car Nicobar, and Nimbudera covering all
three districts of the Island, besides an Out Reach Centre supported by
NABARD at Diglipur, North Andaman.
While delivering the first Dr. T.R Dutta lecture on the topic ‘livelihood and Nutritional security through horticulture-focus A&N Islands’, Dr. Chadha said that there is immense scope for horticulture in these islands. Island-specific horticulture will not only contribute to creating more livelihoods but also contribute further towards the economic development of islands. He also emphasized the role of horticulture R&D in achieving the twin objectives of livelihood and nutritional security.
Shri Onit Panyang, Secretary
(Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries), Andaman & Nicobar
Administration underlined the constant cooperation that exists between the line
Department & CARI for the development of Agriculture in these Islands.
Shri M.A. Salam, Director
(Agriculture), Andaman & Nicobar Administration, briefed the gathering
about the various initiatives taken by the Department for promoting
horticulture and its result obtained so far in these islands.
Earlier, Dr. S. Dam Roy, Director, CARI
welcomed the dignitaries and acknowledged the outstanding contribution of Dr.
Dutta for laying the strong foundation of CARI.
Senior officials of NABARD, development
departments of Andaman & Nicobar Administration, students, and teachers
attended the lecture.
Dr. D.R. Singh, Head (Horticulture
& Forestry), CARI, and Organizing Secretary proposed the vote of thanks.
On 21 Mar 2014: The Central
Agricultural Research Institute has been renamed as Central Island Agricultural
Research Institute. Dr. Eaknath B. Chakurkar
Director of Animal Reproduction & Gynecology is the present director
of CIARI Port Blair.
To provide a research base to improve the productivity of important agri-horticulture, livestock, and fisheries of A&N Islands through adaptive and basic research for attaining economic self-sufficiency.To develops appropriate plans for the conservation of natural resources and their sustainable use.To standardizes technologies for animal health coverage and livestock production. To standardizes techniques for capture and culture fishers including coastal aquaculture.First-line transfer of technology and training to the relevant state departments.
The cultivated area is only 5% of the
total geographical area. The land use is dominated by plantation crops such as
coconut, areca nut, oil palm, coffee, and rubber. Pineapple, tapioca, and
pepper are grown as intercrops in the rubber plantation. Rice -rice and
rice-pulse are important cropping systems.
These islands have an 11,000 ha area
under rainfed rice, and the average productivity is about 2.7 tonnes/ha. The
major constraint in production is soil salinity
Coconut is cultivated in 25,600 ha with
a productivity of 3,402 nuts/ha/year (20 nuts/palm/year). The potential yield
of the palm is 120 nuts/palm/year. Reasons for low productivity are lack of
adoption of integrated farming system approach and soil and moisture
conservation measures. Scope exists for increasing the production in the state
by adopting the following technologies/interventions:
Adoption of watershed-based integrated
coconut-based farming system .High-density multispecies cropping system with
coconut, pepper, ginger, and tree spaces improving the quality of copra using
modern dryers. Despite heavy consumption of coconut by the Nicobarese, the bulk
of the production is sent to the mainland.
The rubber Board assessed in the year
1959 that about 4000 hectares in Katchal, 1200 hectares in Rutland, and about
2400 hectares in Great Nicobar, could be brought under rubber plantations. The
soils as well as the agro-climatic conditions in the territory, particularly in
the Nicobar Group of Islands, are suitable for the introduction of rubber
plantation on a large scale. At present, rubber plantation has been taken up in
the south Andaman Group of Islands and Katchal islands of the Nicobar group of
islands. In South Andaman, plantations were raised on revenue lands whereas, in
Katchal Island, the forest lands were utilized for this purpose. So far an area
of 614 hectares has been covered, out of which 593 hectares belong to the
rubber Board. Latex, a product from the rubber plantations is tapped. It is
converted into rubber sheets and the entire production is sent to the mainland.
The Forest Department initiated, on an experimental basis, red
oil palm cultivation in Little Andaman, 1975 and covered an area of 2,400
hectares. The area was, however, restricted to 200 hectares only under
instructions from the Government of India pending study concerning the effect
of red oil palm plantations on the environment and ecology of these islands.
The experiment was subsequently taken over by the Forest plantations
Development Corporation Ltd., which started functioning on 1st April 1977.
About 1600 hectares of the area have been planted so far. The red oil palm
plantations involve clear felling of the rain forests.
The other plantation crops like pepper, cloves, nutmeg, cashew
nuts, cinnamon, etc., are being tried on an experimental basis in south
Andaman. Pepper, Cloves and Cashew nuts are showing encouraging results.
|
Cropped area affected |
Monetary value |
|
|
South Andaman |
1750 |
1.31 |
|
Havelock |
200 |
0.15 |
|
Baratang |
400 |
0.30 |
|
Middle Andaman |
1000 |
0.75 |
|
Little Andaman |
100 |
0.07 |
|
Car Nicobar |
- |
|
|
Nan Cowry Group of Islands (10
Islands) |
- |
|
|
Campbell Bay |
500 |
0.37 |
|
Total |
3 950 |
2.96 |
|
|
|
|
Area Estimated And Cropped Area Affected And Their Estimated Monetary Value
In all four states, the standing rice
and plantation crops were significantly impacted upon. Among the plantation
crops areca nut, coconut, and banana stands were severely affected. Seawater
intrusion not only affected the standing crop but also resulted in the
salinization of soils and water bodies. In some areas in the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands land was permanently inundated and cannot be reclaimed. The
extent of damage incurred due to the tsunami in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
and the mainland states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu were as follows:
Andaman and Nicobar: In the Andaman and Nicobar Island
some islands were destroyed with significant loss of life and property. Of the
standing/harvested rice crop, approximately 2/3 area the total area (4 000 ha)
was lost or severely affected in the island chain. Other crops including
vegetables, pulses, and oilseeds were destroyed. Approximately 10000 ha of
plantation crops (i.e. coconut, banana) crops were severely damaged or
destroyed along with root crops on selected islands of the chain. All coconut
seedlings in the nurseries were destroyed. The total estimated cost of these
losses was estimated to be US$149.58 million.
Area and estimated monetary value of plantation and root crops destroyed in the island chains of the Andaman's and Nicobar's
|
Island/Crop |
Cropped area affected |
Monetary value |
|
A. Plantation crops |
|
|
|
South Andaman |
10 |
0.22 |
|
Little Andaman |
450 |
9.84 |
|
Car Nicobar |
2 000 |
43.75 |
|
Nan Cowry Group of Islands (10
Islands) |
3 000 |
65.56 |
|
Campbell Bay |
1 200 |
26.25 |
|
Total A |
6 640 |
145.62 |
|
B. Root crops |
400 |
1.00 |
|
Total |
7 060 |
146.62 |
Action Plans to Rehabilitate Tsunami
Affected Areas and Progress
The Government of India's immediate
response to the crisis was to take care of the large numbers of displaced
persons. Furthermore extensive surveys were conducted by central and state
government teams within the affected areas to quantify the impact of the
tsunami on the agricultural sector. The outcome of these activities was the
development of short- and long-term plans to restore the agricultural sector
and livelihoods of thousands of displaced farmers. Monitoring of progress
concerning the implementation of the plans is being undertaken by the central
and state governments.
Immediate steps taken in meeting the
short-term plan for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are described in Table. In the Nicobar district, 5 000 m of
protective dykes were constructed to prevent seawater intrusion to rice fields.
Debris was cleared from 1 600 ha This included the clearing of debris from
affected agricultural land, the scraping of surface deposits of salt, and the
application of organic manures and gypsum to salt-affected lands. In addition,
equipment and implements were provided to affected farmers to assist in the
establishment of agronomic, horticultural, and plantation crops. Progress as of
31 March 2006 in achieving the short-term goals are presented in Table.
Progress as of 31 March 2006 with respect to meeting the short-term plan
objectives for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
|
Action plan targets |
Achievements |
|
Repair and reconstruction of 5 000 m
of dykes and 100 drop spillways with sluice gate |
5 000 m of earthen dykes constructed
by Zila Parishad |
|
Cleaning of deposited debris from 6
660 ha |
A total of 1 616.65 ha have been
cleared of debris |
|
Scraping of surface salt from 1 320
ha of rice and 2 220 ha of plantation crop (Total 3 540 ha) |
45.5 ha were scraped. However this
was found to be time consuming hence surface flushing and leaching has been
adopted through the building on bunds in affected fields |
|
Application of organic matter to 6
660 ha of plantation crops |
4 660 tonnes of organic manure
procured |
|
Application of gypsum to 1320 ha of
rice, 2 220 ha of plantation crop and 460 ha of other crop land (Total 4 000
ha) |
Further assessment of the extent of
damage has indicated that in most cases the application of gypsum is not
required |
|
Construction of 1 000 check dams for
rainwater harvesting |
The design and estimate for the
construction of structures have been finalized |
|
Construction of 5 000 ponds and wells |
151 ponds and 2 ring wells completed |
|
The supply of 5 000 pump sets |
2 300 pump sets procured and
distributed to farmers |
|
Establishment of 2 640 ha of rice and
6 660 ha of plantation crops |
1 376.02 ha under plantation; 320.26
ha under paddy; and 361.05 ha under vegetables have been brought back into
cultivation |
|
Creation of drainage canals |
820 m drains have been constructed |
|
Provisions of farm implements
equipment (1000 power tillers) |
6 500 sets of farm implements have
been distributed to farmers |
The area available for cultivation in
these islands is limited therefore efficient use of land and remediation of
degraded areas through organic farming practices are the viable alternative
strategy to increase crop production and enhance livelihood support. The
locally available organic materials can be effectively recycled to meet crop nutrient
requirements. There is a huge potential for organic farming especially the
cultivation of spices, coconut, tropical fruits, and high-value vegetables.
Organic waste recycling and other nutrient management strategy can meet 100 %,
60 %, and 30 % of N, P, and K requirements, respectively. In organic
cultivation of selected crops in the islands with best management practices the
yield of potential crops can be increased by 10 - 30 % and the average net
profit by 15 - 22 % higher than the conventional farming.
REFERENCES
Image refrences
1.https://www.asian-voice.com/Opinion/Columnists/Hari-Desai/Claimants-for-Andaman-and-Nicobar-Islands -Asian voice
2.https://www.amazon.com/ANDAMAN-ISLANDS-Mourning-painted-olive-green/dp/B008CP1D4M
3.https://bharathgyanblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/28/rajendra-chola-i/ -Bharath Gyan
4.https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/earthquake-and-tsunami-disaster-andaman-and-nicobar-islands-india-jan-2005-507918s -Shutterstock
5.https://ciari.icar.gov.in/ - ICAR
content references
7.https://nicobars.andaman.nic.in/department-of-agriculture/ - Department Of Agriculture (Andaman And Nicobar Islands)
8.https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/00628D1C1401929D53A01F9E523E72E2/S002085901800022 -Cambridgecore
9.pdf/andaman_islands_penal_colony_race_class_criminality_and_the_british_empire.pdf-ResarchGate
10.https://icar.org.in/files/state-specific/chapter/128.htm - ICAR
11.https://www.andamanbeacon.com/andaman_plantation_resources -Andaman Beacon
12.sindia.org.
2020 -Sindia
13."Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers'
Welfare, Government of India". Agriculture.gov.in. Retrieved 15 September
2018. - Wikipedia
14.https://krishi.icar.gov.in/jspui/bitstream/123456789/39357/1/Organic%20Farming_AN%20Islands.pdf -Journal of the Andaman Science Association Vol. 19(2):116 - 125 (2014)
ISSN 0970 - 4183, Printed in India
© Andaman Science Association, Port Blair (A & N Islands), India
15.http://www.fao.org/3/ag104e/Ag104e08.htm#:~:text=Among%20the%20plantation%20crops%20areca,inundated%20and%20cannot%20be%20reclaimed.-
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