Uttarakhand
Mountain farming at 1,000–2,500m — where Baranaja intercropping and seed sovereignty movements have preserved 50+ crop varieties.
The Garhwal and Kumaon ranges of Uttarakhand represent some of the most challenging agricultural terrain in the world — terraced fields cut into 60-degree slopes, farming at 1,000–3,000m altitude, with unreliable monsoon rainfall and no irrigation. In response, the farming communities of this region developed Baranaja — a 12-crop intercropping system using grains, legumes, and oilseeds grown simultaneously on the same plot. The system requires no purchased inputs: crops fertilise each other (legumes fix nitrogen), manage their own pests (aromatic herbs repel insects), and provide a complete nutritional diet from a single field.
Baranaja crops
12 species on one field simultaneously
Beej Bachao varieties
200+ varieties maintained since 1980s
Altitude range
800–2,800m — multiple microclimates
Women farmers
Primary agricultural workers (90% in hill districts)
— Climate
Temperate mountain — cool summers, cold winters, monsoon rainfall 1,000–2,500mm at lower elevations, snow at higher
— Soil Type
Sandy loam to clay loam — thin topsoil on slopes, richer alluvial in valleys
— What Grows Here —
Key ingredients from Uttarakhand.
— Farming Communities
- Pahari women's collectives (SHG networks)
- Beej Bachao Andolan (founded by Vijay Jardhari)
- Chipko movement legacy farming communities
- Scheduled Tribe communities of high-altitude villages
— GI Protected Products
Munsiari Rajma (red kidney bean)
GI Tag 2019
— Traditional Farming Systems
- Baranaja (12-crop intercropping)
- Beej Bachao Andolan seed banks (200+ varieties)
- Community forest rights under FRA 2006
- Women-led SHG cooperatives for direct marketing
— Challenges Facing This Region
Severe rural out-migration — some villages 80% women (men work in cities); climate change disrupting snow-melt irrigation timing; terracing erosion from increased rainfall intensity.
Explore all origins.
13 regions, 60+ farming communities, and counting.