Climate change is devastating food production in Kashmir, according to a new ActionAid report.

Melting glaciers, changing rainfall and snow patterns and drying springs are all damaging farming in the north Indian state, the report says.

The new report, On the brink, reveals how vegetable production is sliding, the oilseed crop is down by 70 percent and the state’s once–rich paddy fields could see a 60% drop in rice cultivated by 2010.

“Untimely and unprecedented windstorms in 2007 wiped out the almond crop by 60 percent and destroyed trees and homes,” says one local farmer, Muhammad Usman Yatoo.

“Eight kanals of land used to fetch me 1.5 to 2 kilo of saffron 20 years ago but now I get only 200 grams,” says another farmer Abdul Hameed.

Behind the slide

According to the report, the last 40 years have seen a reduction in water levels of almost all the streams and rivers in Kashmir by two-thirds.

Himalayan glaciers feed Asia's nine largest rivers. Their melting could jeopardize water supplies for the 1.3 billion people who live downstream.

Less snow
Cement-making plants in Kashmir are producing heat-trapping gases that could lead to no snow in the plains over the next two decades, while over 300 military convoys move across Kashmir every day producing high levels of pollution.

“Greenhouse gases are the biggest threat to Kashmir's fragile ecology and food security,” says Arjimand Talib, who heads ActionAid’s work in Kashmir.

Tough laws
The report calls for tougher anti-pollution laws, a shift to eco-tourism, a food security monitoring mechanism and support for local livelihoods.

In a year-long survey 571 individuals in nine districts of Kashmir were interviewed by ActionAid with research support from Kashmir University, Tata Institute of Social Sciences of Mumbai, Delhi School of Social Work, Aligarh Muslim University and McGill University of Canada.