Farmers plough a terraced area in Uttarakhand’s Bageshwar using hand tractors. Mechanisation is essential in modern agriculture to enhance productivity. But using machinery, whether light or heavy, in a hilly or terraced landscape can disrupt topsoil, destroy vegetation, and alter natural drainage. Photo: Vikas Choudhary/CSE
Agriculture

Mechanised agriculture in the hills is a double-edged sword

While machinery can replace draught animal power, its use on fragile hill slopes can damage soil and destabilise landscapes

Vikas Choudhary
Farmers plough a terraced area in Uttarakhand’s Bageshwar using hand tractors. Mechanisation is essential in modern agriculture to enhance productivity. But using machinery, whether light or heavy, in a hilly or terraced landscape can disrupt topsoil, destroy vegetation, and alter natural drainage.