By Mir Nabeena & S. Iliyas Rizvi

Kashmir is losing thousands of hectares of fertile farmland as paddy fields yield to concrete. 

Far more than a shift in land use, this transformation is reshaping the valley’s food security, ecological balance and centuries-old agrarian heritage. 

The slow disappearance of paddy lands ranks among the most significant environmental and social changes unfolding in Kashmir today.

Rice has occupied a central place in valley’s history for centuries. It feeds households, sustains farming communities and anchors cultural traditions that have passed through generations. 

Vast paddy fields once spread through Kashmir like green carpets, creating a landscape that blended agricultural productivity with natural beauty. 

Those fields also performed ecological functions that rarely enter public debate. 

They regulated water flow, reduced soil erosion, stored carbon, supported biodiversity and preserved traditional knowledge tied to farming cycles.

Their disappearance signals much more than a reduction in cultivated acreage. It shows the gradual weakening of an entire ecological and cultural system.

Kashmir possesses a remarkable heritage of traditional rice varieties. Names such as Mushqbudj, Zag, Kamad, Koshkar, Jhelum and Shalimar remain known to many Kashmiris. 

These varieties evolved through generations of local adaptation and agricultural wisdom. Historical records indicate that more than one hundred rice varieties once flourished in the valley. 

Today, only a small number remain under cultivation.

Modern lifestyles, changing farming practices, urban expansion and climatic pressures have gradually reduced their presence. Several traditional varieties face serious survival challenges. Their decline narrows genetic diversity and weakens the long-term adaptability of agriculture. 

Agricultural biodiversity serves as insurance against future environmental stress. When diversity shrinks, vulnerability grows.

Rice also belongs to the Poaceae family, one of the most important plant groups on Earth. Beyond feeding people, grasses support livestock systems through fodder, pastures and silage. 

The decline of paddy cultivation therefore reaches beyond rice production itself and influences broader agricultural systems.

Land conversion remains the most visible force behind the decline of Kashmir’s paddy fields. 

Population growth and urban expansion have transformed fertile agricultural land into residential colonies, commercial complexes and infrastructure projects. Areas surrounding Srinagar and its expanding suburbs illustrate this transformation with striking clarity.

Official figures reveal that Kashmir lost nearly 34,000 hectares of cultivable farmland between 1996 and 2023. That figure alone should command public attention. 

Fertile land formed over centuries, but concrete replaces it within months.

The consequences already appear in food production. Local agricultural output struggles to keep pace with growing consumption. 

Reports........

© Kashmir Observer