Jammu & Kashmir has the world’s largest ethnic migratory transhumant population, with 6.12 lakhs. Jammu & Kashmir is a model Union Territory in India with an already existing set of provisions for the pastoralists. Therefore, understanding and assessing the impact of these policies can provide a basis for making similar interventions in other states. This study of various ongoing schemes in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir can help us assess the need for support services to sustain pastoral production systems in the Union Territory and other states. However, the present-day initiatives need to be refined and integrated through a multidisciplinary approach to meet the modern enabling policy requirements for pastoralists.
Dr. Smruti Smita Mohapatra is a veterinarian with Ph.D. in Veterinary Physiology. She holds a PG Certificate in Agriculture Policy from IGNOU and PG Diploma in Animal Protection Laws from NALSAR. She has worked as a veterinarian in different capacities as – a practitioner, an educator, a consultant, and a researcher. Post-Doctoral studies, she worked as a Research Fellow, at Verghese Kurien Centre of Excellence, IRMA. She dealt with research projects on milk production and its management, cooperatives, indigenous people, pastoralism, and rural development. She was the Principal Researcher for the research project in IRMA on Maldhari pastoralists in Kutch, Gujarat. She is a Resource Group for South Asia Pastoral Alliance (SAPA) member.
A passionate science writer, she has many awards and laurels to her credit along with popular, technical research articles and scientific abstracts in various animal husbandry magazines, websites, and national/international conferences. She has been included in the Editorial Board of various magazines. She is a peer reviewer for many scientific journals. She is a resource person for national dairy and poultry farmers’ training programmes. IIT, Kharagpur, and IGNOU-NCIDE have adjudged her as a potential innovator. She is a strong advocate of animal welfare issues, agriculture policies, UN Sustainable Development Goals, and global climate change.
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