Agriculture

Agriculture has traditionally been the foundation of the Tibetan economy. The three major forms of occupation in Tibet are pastoral nomadism (drokpa), grain farming (shingpa) and semi-nomadism (sama-drok). Over 80 percent of the total population of Tibet is still engaged in primary sector agriculture (TIN 1999a). Farmers are mainly concentrated in valleys where they utilise fertile soil for crop cultivation, while pastoral and semi-nomads are found on plateaus and mountains suitable for raising animals.

Natural rangelands abound in Tibet, accounting for 70 per cent of the total territory supporting an estimated population of 70.2 million domestic animals and about one million pastoral nomads (DIIR 1992). The rangelands are mostly concentrated in the Chang Thang (Northern Plateau) which has long been regarded as one of the best grazing regions in Asia. Cropland accounts for only two per cent while forest accounts for five per cent.

Desert, rocky and permanently barren lands, settlements, lakes and rivers account for the remaining 23 per cent of the total territory (ibid). According to Chinese sources, grasslands in the northeastern province of Amdo  (Ch: Qinghai) account for 96 per cent of the province, while in ‘TAR’ 56.72 per cent of the region constitutes highland pasture (Tibetan Bulletin 1992a). The vast rangelands of Kham produce superior quality grass.

MAJOR OCCUPATIONS

Pastoral Nomad Migration
Tibet’s pastoral nomadism represents a unique example of the sustainable pastoralism that was once common in many parts of the world. The pastoral nomads manage their grazing lands with a combination of traditional knowledge, instinct and sensitivity to environmental conditions; skills that have ensured the productivity of these pastures for millennia.

Tibetan nomads migrate with their herds of yaks, sheep and goats and their movements are designed in such a way that the herds are moved to various pastures during different seasons of the year. Different pastures were used for summer and winter grazing allowing the land to recover and retain its fertility. The staple diet of the nomads is tsampa (roasted barley) supplemented by butter, cheese, yoghurt and meat; their drinks are butter tea and a beer called chang, which is usually made from barley.

The milk products such as butter and cheese are bartered with farmers for food grains. Dri (female yak) milk is churned every day using a wooden churner called dongmo and the butter that is collected is then pressed into a hard circular cake from which all liquid is removed and then packed into skin and wooden storage containers. The butter is prepared so well that it can be stored for long periods without turning rancid. The cheese prepared from buttermilk is either used fresh or processed further into hard cheesefor marketing. Dried cheese is made by slicing the circular cheese into small pieces and hanging them in strings of 20 squares. Yak meat is considered a delicacy and eaten raw (red meat) by preserving a section of leg wrapped in cloth. Fresh meat or dried meat can be cooked in stews.

Nearly three quarters of Tibet’s territory is pasture which forms the backbone of Tibet’s agro-pastoral economy. Though the grasslands nurture a rich wealth of animals and a flourishing pastoral economy, the rugged mountain ranges and extensive steppes are covered with green grasses for only a few months of the year (Miller 1997c).

Many animals die every year due to the shortage of fodder and the fact that grasses are buried under snow in winter and spring. At times, the winter death rate could go as high as 50 per cent of the herd size. Overgrazing and snowstorms can lead to a decrease in grass availability and nutrient loss and therefore winter pastures are relied upon when the grass is withering. Herdsmen usually prefer to mow winter pastures before grazing begins. However, the amount of hay annually produced by mowing is very limited because grasses are short (only 5-12 cm) and vegetation cover is relatively sparse (Wu 1997).

According to Long and Ma (1997), there are five primary types of rangeland existing in Amdo region which exemplifies the richness of the Tibetan Plateau’s grassland. They are as follows:

• Woodland and coarse grass
• Shrub and coarse grass
• Dry rangeland
• Desert rangeland
• Meadow rangeland

Yaks and dris are the most important domesticated animals found in the pastoral areas of the Tibetan Plateau.Dris provide milk and milk products, and along with yaks yield meat, hair, wool and hides. They are also used as pack as well as draught animals and for riding. Their dung is an important source of fuel on the plateau where firewood is scarce. They make life possible for people to live in one of the world’s harshest environments.

Sheep and goats are also very important animals on Tibet’s rangelands. Although yaks characterise Tibetan pastoralism, sheep and goats are often more economically important in many areas. Sheep and goats provide wool, meat, hides and in some areas of Western Tibet, sheep are also milked. Sheep meat is preferred among nomads and agricultural people throughout Tibet. Tibetan wool is well known for its quality and is highly prized in the carpet industry for its great elasticity, deep lustre and outstanding tensile strength. Tibetan goats produce cashmere; some of the finest cashmere in the world comes from Western Tibet and much of it is exported to Europe. Goats are also milked as they lactate for a longer period of time than sheep. Nomads spin sheep and yak wool and yak hair. Women weave wool into material for tents, blankets, bags and clothing and men braid ropes. These items are still used in everyday nomadic life.

Grain from Productive Niches
Croplands of Tibet are located at very high altitudes compared to croplands in other parts of the world. Croplands account for only two per cent of Tibet’s total area and yet this supplies the essential food grain needs of the populace, despite its extreme altitudes, weather conditions and a short growing season. The principal croplands are arable niches along the Drichu, Zachu and Gyalmo Ngulchu river valleys of Kham, the Yarlung Tsangpo valley in U-Tsang and the Machu valley in Amdo. Kham province is the most fertile cropland region, accounting for 85 per cent of the country’s arable land (DIIR 1992).

The traditional agricultural system naturally embodied organic farming principles. The principles of crop rotation, mixed crops and periodic fallows were sustainable and appropriate to the fragile mountain environment. Traditionally the principal Tibetan crop was highland barley used for making tsampa; and under Chinese government directives, wheat is increasingly being planted to suit the Chinese migrant diet. However, in one mu (15 Mu equals 1 hectare) of land, the barley yield has decreased from 1300-1500 gyama (1 gyama equals 500 grams) to about 900 gyama in Rebkong, Amdo(Tibet Times 1999). Other major crops include rice, maize, mustard, millet, sorghum, buckwheat and rape-seed.

The main vegetables that grow well are cabbage, lettuce, radish, turnip, peas, carrot, potato, spinach, kidney beans, tomatoes and others. The abundant sunshine is good for vegetable production and it is not unusual for a radish or cabbage to grow to a dozen kilograms, or a single potato toweigh half or one kilogram. These days fresh vegetables grown in greenhouses are available throughout the four seasons, especially in the Lhasa area (Dekhang 1997). Normally much of the farm work is done by family members, but during the sowing and harvesting seasons — which extend for only a few days and have to be completed according to climatic conditions — they hire people who are paid in kind or they exchange labour. Any harvest surplus is traded for animal products with nomads in pastoral areas.

Semi-Nomadism
A third agro-pastoral category is semi-nomadism — a mixture་of nomadic lifestyle and farming in productive niches,་which involves the raising of livestock and at the same time་engages in agricultural practices.

TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS
Over the centuries, the pastoralists of the Tibetan Plateau have been immensely successful not only in using their vast rangelands but also in conserving the grazing capacity of these areas. Wildlife also coexisted with nomadic populations on the plateau (Schaller and Gu 1994). Over thousands of years nomads adapted to their environment, learning to live with what it offered instead of trying to change or mould the landscape to suit their own needs (Miller 1997c).

Nomads have been herding livestock on the grazing lands of the Tibetan Plateau for nearly 4,000 years, but pastoral production strategies and practices vary widely across the rangelands, depending on altitude, environmental conditions and rangeland types (ibid).

For centuries, trade was based on a barter system of exchanging nomadic products like wool and salt for the grains of farmers. Traditionally, the Tibetan pastoral nomads did not involve themselves in the practice of commercial meat production. This is because most Tibetans are religious and believe in life-after-death which could mean being reborn as the animals killed and therefore they seldom slaughtered. Although Chinese nomads can earn 10 times more per animal, Tibetans do not show much interest in monetary rewards or in changing their behaviour to maximise returns, especially when it means increasing the accelerated slaugh-ter of their herds.

Tibetan nomads lived in yak hair tents — called ba in Tibetan — made from the long, coarse outer hair of the yak and dri called tsid-pa, which is spun and woven by thenomads themselves. The tents suit the nomadic lifestyle because they can be easily taken down and packed on yaks when moving camp. These tents help to keep out the rain yet let in light. Sections of old and frayed tents can be easily replaced with new strips of woven yak hair. The tents are ingeniously designed to stand up to the fierce winds that blow across the high Tibetan plains in winter.

Pastoralists on the Tibetan Plateau often raise a mix of different animal species as each species has different characteristics and adaptations to the grazing environment. The multi-species grazing system, like raising yaks, sheep, goats and horses together, is commonly practised by Tibetan nomads and maximises the use of rangeland resources. Different species of animals graze on different plants and, when herded together on the same range, make more efficient use of rangeland vegetation than a single species (Miller 1997c).

In Tibet, grain constitutes over 80 per cent of total crops by value. Yields per hectare vary widely. Tibet’s croplands were traditionally farmed using methods that were both efficient and environmentally sound and Tibetan society used to be self-sufficient with respect to food supplies. The dry climate allowed storage of surplus harvests for long periods of time, sometimes more than 25 years. This resulted in a mainly closed economy, where comparatively little trading with neighbouring countries occurred. Some of the products of trade were salt, wool, butter, livestock and tea. Within the communities, barter exchange trade was the most commonly used system to acquire necessary provisions (Zhang 1989). Factors that allowed Tibetan society to maintain these isolationist practices for such a long period were the low rate of population growth and sustainable agricultural methods.

Traditionally, the pastoral grasslands were considered the property of the central government in Lhasa. The government had the right to transfer the ownership of estates in lieu of service, such as spiritual, military and civil administration administration, rendered by different sections of the society. The grasslands were not demarcated, allowing a natural form of transhumance. Spiritual service was rendered by monastic institutions whereas the military and civil administration came from the lay population. Land use was restricted to three major estate-holders: local administrative officials, the nobility and upper-ranking lamas in monasteries (Goldstein 1989). These groups accounted for less than five per cent of Tibet’s population, but controlled most farmland, pastures, forests as well as most of the livestock, of which 30.9 per cent was owned by officials, 29.6 per cent by nobles and 39.5 per cent by monasteries and upper ranking lamas. Farmers and nomads made up 90 per cent of old Tibet’s population (Geography of Tibet 1991).

Source: Tibet 2000 Environment and Development Issues/DIIR