Papers by Dhrupad Choudhury
Sustainability, Mar 21, 2019
Mountain farming systems rely on both empirical and academic knowledge. Their sustainability depe... more Mountain farming systems rely on both empirical and academic knowledge. Their sustainability depends on how effectively diverse knowledge is used for solution-oriented decision making. For mountains, decisions must be conducive to rural farmers whose livelihoods depend on agriculture and related activities. Adopting transdisciplinary research approach, we define a composite Sustainability Space indicator that will help decision makers better understand the ingredients for sustainability, and formulate policy and management decisions to reinforce on-the-ground sustainability. Sustainability Space was derived through analysis of the positive and negative impact factors co-defined by community and disciplinary experts, and visualized through a radar diagram. We used Principal Component Analysis to understand relationships between factors. The results on Sustainability Spaces for eight cases of farming systems from the far-Eastern Himalayas indicated that the sustainability of farming systems is strengthened if decisions holistically cater to (i) geophysical prerequisites , (ii) ecological foundations, (iii) integrated processes and practices, (iv) resources, knowledge, and value systems, (v) stakeholders' development and economic aspirations, (vi) well-being of farming communities, and (vii) government support mechanisms. More equitable the attention to these seven components, the higher the sustainability of farming systems in this region could be.
The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment
Aphid Honeydew: A Re-Appraisal of Owen and Wiegert's Hypothesis
Oikos, 1985
... Aphids and melezitose: a test of Owen's 1978 hypothesis. ... For forty years, ecolog... more ... Aphids and melezitose: a test of Owen's 1978 hypothesis. ... For forty years, ecologists studying the evolution of life histories have concentrated on the number of young produced and the timing of reproduction (Lack 1947, Cole 1954, Cody 1966, Williams 1966, Gadgil and Bos ...
Aphids and Plant Fitness: A Test of Owen and Wiegert's Hypothesis
Oikos, 1984
Herbivore Induced Changes in Leaf-Litter Resource Quality: A Neglected Aspect of Herbivory in Ecosystem Nutrient Dynamics
Oikos, 1988
The Forest Rights Act, Northeast India, and Shifting Cultivators
Democratizing Forest Governance in India, 2014
Multidimensional poverty and catastrophic health spending in the mountainous regions of Myanmar, Nepal and India
International journal for equity in health, Jan 18, 2017
Economic burden to households due to out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) is large in many Asian coun... more Economic burden to households due to out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) is large in many Asian countries. Though studies suggest increasing household poverty due to high OOPE in developing countries, studies on association of multidimensional poverty and household health spending is limited. This paper tests the hypothesis that the multidimensionally poor are more likely to incur catastrophic health spending cutting across countries. Data from the Poverty and Vulnerability Assessment (PVA) Survey carried out by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has been used in the analyses. The PVA survey was a comprehensive household survey that covered the mountainous regions of India, Nepal and Myanmar. A total of 2647 households from India, 2310 households in Nepal and 4290 households in Myanmar covered under the PVA survey. Poverty is measured in a multidimensional framework by including the dimensions of education, income and energy, water and sanitation usin...
Community Perceptions and Responses to Climate Variability: Insights from the Himalayas
Climate Change Adaptation Strategies – An Upstream-downstream Perspective, 2016
Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 2008
The Eastern Himalayan region has been identified as one of the 18 mega-biodiversity 'hotspot' are... more The Eastern Himalayan region has been identified as one of the 18 mega-biodiversity 'hotspot' areas of the world . Arunachal Pradesh constitutes 60.93% of the Eastern Himalayan region. Some documentation exists on the flora, but documentations on faunal aspects are still scanty, with scattered reports, mostly on birds and some large mammals. Although contributions to the fish fauna of the State have also been made, accounts of species compositions of many water bodies still remain undocumented awaiting explorations and studies of such aquatic systems. Descriptions of most faunal works have been added with special emphasis on fishes. The preliminary findings suggest 7 first reports for the district and 3 first reports for the State. Senkhi stream contributed 31.37% of the icthyofaunal families of the district and 29.52% of genera while the species representation was found to be 27.32%. The correlation matrix reveals an interesting fact that Dikrong and Pachin have more common species than Senkhi, which is a hill stream. The striking feature is the even distribution of species under family Badidae, Psilorhynchidae and Olyridae though their contribution of each lotic (Senkhi, Pachin and Dikrong) water body is merely a single species and hence these species will be most vulnerable once a mega dam comes in-between, restricting the migration of already threatened population.
Agricultural crops are prone to damage by a wide range of pests from the time sowing to storage. ... more Agricultural crops are prone to damage by a wide range of pests from the time sowing to storage. The role of biopesticiedes, in contrast to chemical pesticides, gains significance for their environment friendliness and biodegradability. The present study reports few traditional pest management practices of some upland communities of North East India utilizing wild plant bioresources.
On a new record of freshwater fish, Pseudolaguvia shawi (Hora) from Arunachal Pradesh, India (Teleostomi: Erethistidae)
Zoos' Print Journal, 2006
ABSTRACT This paper deals with a description of a fish species encountered during monitoring Pseu... more ABSTRACT This paper deals with a description of a fish species encountered during monitoring Pseudolaguvia shawi. This species has been reported from north Bengal and Sikkim and not from the other states of the region. The present record thus is a first report ...
Traditional Practices in Pest Management: Some Examples from North-East India
Abstract: Crop damages caused by pests contribute substantially to economic loss in agriculture. ... more Abstract: Crop damages caused by pests contribute substantially to economic loss in agriculture. The conventional approach to pest control has been the use of chemical pesticides or adopting integrated pest management approaches. In the rural areas of ...
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
Management and Conservation of Resources, it seems to have suffered a serious flaw in approach. T... more Management and Conservation of Resources, it seems to have suffered a serious flaw in approach. The approach in Environmental Education had always been condescending -the urban intellectuals patronizing the rural illiterate. This very approach overlooks the fact that the latter are the genuine practitioners of environmental management, particularly for their livelihood and hence are more in touch with nature; the former inspite of their educational superiority, are highly alienated from nature and hence have a poor understanding of traditional practices in resource management. It is, therefore, a pressing imperative that this patronizing attitude is replaced with one of humility -of learning. The perception in Environmental Education, therefore, has to change from "teaching the rural mass" to learning from their rich experience and complementing that with appropriate scientific knowledge.
Outlook on Agriculture, 2003
Shifting cultivation, locally known as jhum, is the predominant agricultural practice for most co... more Shifting cultivation, locally known as jhum, is the predominant agricultural practice for most communities inhabiting the uplands of north-east India. The negative impacts of the practice on forest and biological resources, soil erosion and land degradation have been a serious concern for several decades now to administrators and planners as well as to the academic community. In the current context, the practice has undergone drastic changes and has become increasingly unviable, gradually leading to the marginalization of farmers practising it. Although shifting cultivation in this area has been the focus of intensive studies, particularly in terms of the underlying ecological dynamics, few have attempted to analyse the factors contributing to the marginalization of the practice. This paper examines micro-scale issues that contribute to reducing productivity (and hence marginalization), and which are of immediate concern to the shifting cultivator. The paper focuses on fundamental issues influencing the reduction in fallow cycle lengths, the impact of rural-urban migration on labour requirements for agriculture, the consequences of inadequate employment and cash generation facilities on labour availability and crop productivity, as well as government efforts to promote agricultural productivity in these areas. The main focus of the paper is on the impact of each of these factors and their synergystic effect on the marginalization of shifting cultivation.
LEISA-LEUSDEN-, 2007
The Khasis of West Khasi Hills practice another interesting method, and use cow's blood to r... more The Khasis of West Khasi Hills practice another interesting method, and use cow's blood to repel birds from paddy fields. A small bird species, locally known as phreit, comes in flocks and damages the paddy, breaking the tillers. Usually it destroys the crop during the ...
Ichthyological Exploration of …, 2008
Erethistidae is a family of catfishes that inhabits South and Southeast Asia. Members of this fam... more Erethistidae is a family of catfishes that inhabits South and Southeast Asia. Members of this family are small, cryptically colored fishes with tuberculate skin and well developed coracoid process (Ng, 2005). Members of the genus Erethistoides are small and poorly known, ...
Journal of the Bombay Natural …, 2007
The Eastern Himalayan region has been identified as one of the 18 mega-biodiversity 'hotspot... more The Eastern Himalayan region has been identified as one of the 18 mega-biodiversity 'hotspot'areas of the world (Myers et al. 2000). Arunachal Pradesh constitutes 60.93% of the Eastern Himalayan region. Some documentation exists on the flora, but documentations ...
Uploads
Papers by Dhrupad Choudhury