Sustainable performance of French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivation, a livelihood component in Eastern Himalayan Region

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts to measure the sustainable performance of French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivation, a livelihood component in Eastern Himalayan Region (EHR). The objectives of the study were to examine the role, and the sustainable performance of French bean as a livelihood component in EHR. Altogether, 240 French bean growers had included from two selected districts of Nagaland, EHR. The contribution of French bean cultivation, contribution from other livelihood activities and annual expenditure pattern, 12 parameters under each of 4 indicators (economic, social, human and environmental) of sustainability were assessed. A relationship was established between the sustainability index and the livelihood index. French bean cultivation was ranked as the first, and other livelihood activities in descending order are; livestock-based, crop-based (excluding French bean), Off-farm, and forest-based livelihood. Despite less income from French bean cultivation than other countries, it is contributing about 43.00% to annual income and 73.00% to the yearly expenditure of growers. Thus French bean cultivation is a sustainable livelihood component. The study adopted a framework that can assess the sustainable performance of other crops/activities under similar/different agroecology. The policy process should emphasize higher productivity and more income from it and bring all-round development of the EHR.

KEYWORDS:

• French bean
• livelihood
• sustainable livelihood
• livelihood index
• sustainability index
• framework
• Nagaland
• Eastern Himalayan Region (EHR)

Acknowledgements

This paper is an outcome of PhD research at SASRD, Nagaland University, Nagaland, India. The authors would like to thank Nagaland University, Nagaland, India. India. The authors thank all the respondents for their kind contribution and cooperation. We thank Dr Priyabrata Santra, Principal Scientist, ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, India, for the valuable suggestions for drafting this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).