Agricultural Ecosystem

Speeding (1988) defined Agriculture as "Agriculture is an activity (of man) carried out primarily to produce food, feed and fibber (and fuel, as well as many other materials) by the deliberate and controlled use of (mainly terrestrial) plants and animals".

Agricultural ecosystems or agro ecosystems are specialized controlled systems designed and managed by humans for the production of food and fiber. It is a complex system of interacting biotic and abiotic elements performing certain functions and processes such as primary production, consumption, and decomposition resulting in energy flow and nutrient cycling. The agro ecosystem is further characterized by a hierarchy of integrated systems (e.g. farms within communities, within watersheds, within regions and so forth) composed of interconnected and interrelated biophysical elements (soil, water, air, Tor climatic resources, plants and animals), and socioeconomic elements (social, cultural, economic, institutional and political concerns). The interactions among these elements determine the properties of the agro ecosystem. 

Agriculture in the Gilgit-Baltistan is rain fed as well as irrigated. There is a general scarcity of irrigation water; hence a lot of culturable waste cannot be brought under cultivation. This would exclude gardening and landscaping unless products could be described for them (such as money), but forestry, fish farming and a number of industrial processes would be included. The word "primarily" implies that there are other important products and this is indeed so. Since definitions are never as permanent as they sound, new dimensions have also been added to agriculture, especially when farming is becoming integrated with non-farming enterprises.
However, when one looks at the Gilgit-Baltistan, agriculture is not a factory or industry. It is not merely a sector of production. Agriculture is a way of life, a cultural practice with all the implications of the word culture. They comprise growing crops with local seeds, caring animals that have adapted to the environment, relishing vegetables and fruits of their own kind and quality. There exists a system of self-reliance and sustainability. It is an ecological agriculture in its true sense.

An estimate of the present land use of the Gilgit-Baltistan is only some 1% is cultivable. About 4% is occupied by forest and 23% are rangelands mainly alpine pasture.
Wheat is largely grown as winter crop in the valleys of NA and terraces of these high mountainous areas, in the double cropped zone. In the Rabi season almost every farmer devotes major part of his land, up to 70% for wheat crop. The crop has a pivotal position in the rural economy, as it fulfils basic food and fodder requirements of human and animal population.
Maize is the second major crop after wheat; It is mainly cultivated for domestic consumption as fodder and grains. The grains are an essential part of the daily diet of the people in the winter season. The dry matter (stover) is used for livestock, during winter.