• Preeti Sachar
• Anjali Yadav
• Pawan Kumar

A diverse agro-climatic region makes Indian agriculture more vulnerable, basically due to over dominance of population on agriculture and poor coping mechanism. Crop diversification can improve resilience in a variety of ways: by engendering a greater ability to suppress pest outbreaks and dampen pathogen transmission, which may worsen under future climate scenarios, as well as by buffering crop production from the effects of greater climate variability and extreme events. In the agricultural context, diversification can be regarded as the re-allocation of some of the farm's productive resources, such as land, capital, farm equipment and paid labour, into new activities for value-addition and provision of services to other farmers. Sikkim Himalaya represents a hotspot of agro-biodiversity. Here, agricultural diversification is picking up momentum in favour of high-value food commodities primarily to augment income rather than the traditional concept of risk management. The livestock sector is the principal income-generating source in agriculture followed by the crop sector. Several non-food-grain crops such as fruits, vegetables, and medicines have substituted mainly coarse cereals in the farmers’ pursuit for higher income. Whereas fruit cultivation has been adopted in a big way in the temperate belt, the same does not appear to enjoy any comparative advantage in non-temperate belt.

agro-climatic region, Crop diversification, agro-biodiversity and non-food-grain crops

"Approaches for enhancing resource efficiency under changing climate with special reference to crop diversification in Sikkim Himalayas", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.7, Issue 9, page no.81-90, September 2020, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2009476.pdf

"Approaches for enhancing resource efficiency under changing climate with special reference to crop diversification in Sikkim Himalayas", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.7, Issue 9, page no. pp81-90, September 2020, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2009476.pdf