May 30, 2012 jhum cultivation and its impact on ecology need for viable alternatives ceety khongsai jhum cultivation seen in this breathtaking landscape of manipur pix bullu raj. Mar 25, 2014 a short film about variant of jhum cultivation practiced in nagaland which is sustainable and does not involve tree felling. Shifting cultivation, livelihood and food security. Pdf sustainability of jhum cultivation as perceived by the tribal. Developing an alternative to shifting cultivation in northeast india. Shifting cultivation fallows must be legally perceived and categorized as regenerating fallows, which may, if given sufficient time, regenerate into secondary forests. Stracey listed a number of problems caused by slashandburn shifting cultivation or jhum as commonly practised by indigenous tribes in north east india. Any land use change suggested for transformation of shifting cultivation, therefore. In 2003, 62 hhs opened 65 plots for shifting cultivation, which covered 141. Settled plough cultivation is not easy in areas where water is scarce and the soil is dry. At present, net area sown in mizoram state is only 5. Upland rice is the main crop grown in mixture with maize, foxtail, finger millet, beans, cassava, yam, banana, sweet potato, ginger, chillies, vegetables, etc.
But dilution of the original practice has impacted the ecosystem in some areas. Shifting cultivation, variously termed as rotational bush, fallow agriculture, swidden cultivation or slash and burn cultivation, is an age old practice of cultivation in northeast india, which is still a predominant farming system. Jhum cultivation practices of the bangnis nishis of arunachal pradesh vishal gupta divisional forest officer, seppa forest division, seppa 790 102, arunachal pradesh email. It is a sedentary form of wet rice oryza sativa cultivation and is a complementary system to jhum. Like jhum, valley agriculture is practised through out the hill terrain, both at low and high elevations of northeastern region of india. Jhum or shifting cultivation is still prevalent in many of the mountain communities in northeast india. Dec 10, 2017 this is the reason it is named as shifting cultivation. The downed vegetation, or slash, is then left to dry, usually right before the rainiest part of the year. Naga farmers had been practicing jhum and terrace form of paddy cultivation. G g g y 1, the total area under jhum cultivation in the state. Shifting or jhum cultivation, is a predominant form of farming in north east india, practiced since time immemorial. The shifting cultivation in arunachal pradesh is dynamic in nature and is known as jhum. The ever shortened jhum cycle in the region has impacted both the forest.
Loss of forest cover and land degradation in jhum in india. Pdf jhum cultivation and its consequences on forest and. An empirical study of shifting cultivation in kombo jinyo. Meanwhile, about 54% people, living in the rural areas, are engaged in practicing it. In 2004, 74 hhs opened 75 plots for shifting cultivation, with an aggregate area of 179. The objective is to estimate, the total area under jhum cultivation in.
Inspite of its minor variation, these cultivation processes are classified into two distinct patternsa settled farming on the permanent and developed land in the plains and valley areas and b tribal agricultural practices, popularly known as. Traditionally all the tribes in the state practice. The major crops grown on this land are dry paddy, maize etc. Pineapple, citrus, jackfruit and some timber planted on mid slopes as pure as well as intercrop with pulsesoilseeds and other crops 3. Jhum cultivation or shifting swidden cultivation is prevalent since ancient time. In some regions of india, in the shifting cultivation, there is the use of agriculture which will be full of the slashandburn agriculture, migratory primitive agriculture, nomadic agriculture, hoe and burn, forest field rotation. Jhum cultivation practices of the bangnis nishis of arunachal. Rice, corn maize, millet, and buckwheat are among the chief crops grown by that method.
While it is generally contested as a destructive method of farming, it is also argued that the system lends itself as much more than just a farming practice. Jhum or slash and burn cultivation, is a form of cultivation carried out on the slopes of a hill. Crops are raised for a few seasons then the area is abandoned once in 2 or 3. Nov 07, 2017 jhum or podu or shifting or slash and burn cultivation is one of the primitive practise of agriculture systems. Shifting cultivation is the major occupation and the main source of income of the marginal farmers jhumias in mizoram. Designing a protected area network for conservation. Designing a protected area network for conservation planning in jhum landscapes of garo hills, megbalaya. Another reason is that before sowing they mix the seeds with cow urine and dry it in shade to reduce incidence of diseases and pests. Such regenerating fallows add to the forest cover of an area. The agricultural practices of shifting cultivators should be understood as adaptations to ecological, socioeconomic, and structural constraints. A recent study based on satellite data carried out by the assarn remote sensing application center astc council, 1996 shows that in the karbi anglong district of assam the area under current jhum has increased from 583 ha 1. Initially, the vegetation or the forest on the land is cleared where the. Jhum cultivation practices of the bangnis nishis of arunachal pradesh. This type of cultivation is mainly practised in much of the worlds humid lowlatitude, or climate regions, which have relatively high te.
Developmental activities like roads and bridges enable destructive human incursion 27 38. Jhum cultivation, which is also known as shifting cultivation, is the primitive form of soil utilization. Jhum cultivation which is popularly known as shifting cultivation is one of the oldest types of cultivation practices of india and is practiced majorly in the northeastern states of india. Jhum cultivation practices of the galo of arunachal pradesh. For jhumias jhum cultivators the importance of shifting cultivation goes beyond mere economic concerns. Jhum shifting cultivation is a primitive practice of cultivation in states of north eastern hill region of india and people involved in such cultivation are called jhumia. This primitive form of agriculture, according to him, resulted in serious environmental problems. Sriram ananthanarayanan examines how the cycle of jhum cultivation is getting adversely affected, causing immense hardship to the people dependent on it. Shifting cultivation is the oldest system of cultivation of crops and the first step in transition from food gatherer to food producer. Shifting cultivation in the northeast hill region is a cyclical system of agriculture over a compact area characterized by manual clearing of vegetation mainly. Jhum cultivation and its impact on ecology need for viable alternatives ceety khongsai jhum cultivation seen in this breathtaking landscape of manipur pix bullu raj.
This cultivation has a particular pattern that has to be followed according to the cycle or the period of jhum cultivation. Forest being cleared inhabited with wild bananas in andaman and nicobar islands 21 27 37. Jun 27, 2008 jhum cultivation under conflict in the northeast shifting cultivation in the northeast, called jhum, is under stress because of conflicts and industrialisation. Prospect or threat to climate article pdf available september 2015 with 205 reads how we measure reads. They slash and burn the vegetation on hills and go for jhum cultivation without adopting any conservation measures which contributes to soil and. Changes in the extent of shifting cultivation in india 2000 2010. Jhum or podu or shifting or slash and burn cultivation is one of the primitive practise of agriculture systems.
Jhum cultivation under conflict in the northeast shifting cultivation in the northeast, called jhum, is under stress because of conflicts and industrialisation. The topography of the region apart from fertility of the soil. Pdf practices of shifting cultivation and its implications in. Jhum or jhoom cultivation is also called as shifting cultivation or cultivation or slash and burn cultivation. Shifting cultivation or jhum cultivation in nagaland is a complex p and there are variations from district to district and tribe to tribe. The practice involves clearing vegetative cover on landslopes of hills, drying and burning it before onset of monsoon and cropping on it thereafter. The main characteristics are rotation of fields rather than crops, clearing by means of fire, absence of manure, use of human labour only and employment of dibble sticks or hoe. The practice of shifting cultivation, therefore, could increase forest cover through the regenerating fallows. This is done by clearing a patch of land for cultivation. Jhum cultivation practices of the bangnis nishis of. This is very essential for the fertility of the land. This file was created by scanning the printed publication.
The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The structure of jhum traditional shifting cultivation system. The challenge is not only in jhum areas but also in traditionally non jhum areas which is equally facing huge land degradation and soil erosion due to rising land pressure owing to phenomenal population growth in the last. Text errors identified by the software have been corrected. The period of cultivation is usually terminated when the soil shows signs of exhaustion or, more commonly, when the field is overrun by weeds. The diversity and dynamics of shifting cultivation world. The research reveals that jhum is the component of traditional agroecosystem encompassing diverse set of knowledge and practices of.
In fact, jhum cultivators who took to plough cultivation often suffered, since their fields did not produce good yields. The british effort to settle jhum cultivators was not very successful because of the following reasons. Crops are raised for a few seasons then the area is. In line with the centres stress on conventional methods of cultivation, the state with a 72 per cent forest cover had been able to reduce the total area under jhum cultivation from 1,10,000. Area under jhum cultivation significantly reduced in. Jhum cultivation by the tribal people in northeast india is considered as sustainable land use practice for ensuring livelihood security. A short film about variant of jhum cultivation practiced in nagaland which is sustainable and does not involve tree felling. Sustainable land and ecosystem management in shifting.
Jhum cultivation involves slashing down of trees and bushes over the forest areas, drying and burning, sowing of seeds of host of crops including paddy by using stick, dibbler or by hand before the onset of monsoon. Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned and allowed to revert to their natural vegetation while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The structure of jhum traditional shifting cultivation. Bandarban hill district is of great importance for growing various crops, which are different from the plains. Alder based farming system a traditional farming practices.
Land cultivation in india is having its distinct feature in different regions of the country. Shifting cultivation is a type of cultivation in which an area is cultivated temporarily for a period of time which differs from place to place and then abandoned for some time so that it restores nutrients in the plot naturally. Sustainability of jhum cultivation 183 weed competition is less. Indigenous system of paddy cultivation in terrace and jhum. The objective is to estimate, the total area under jhum cultivation in the state. Timber crops as pure crops at the upper most crest upper slopes 2. While it is generally contested as a destructive method of farming, it is also argued that the system lends. Hence, the study was conducted in gomati district, tripura state of northeast india during 2012 with 140 respondents aiming to study the sustainability of jhum practiced by tribal people and their. Traditionally in nagaland, jhum cultivation was productive and sustainable. Jhum agriculture involves an intricate combination of land and labour management or gainful employment intertwined with strong cultural linkages. Strategies for improvement in jhum cultivation kiran. Farmers practice traditional jhum culture for their livelihood. The farmers then move onto the other land to repeat the same process there and they keep on shifting it.
Sustainability of jhum cultivation as perceived by the. Remarks1 we make the frame of only those households in villages who are practicing jhum cultivation to avoid zero information. The shifting cultivation is briefly known as agriculture in the cultivate manner that is in the form of the jhum. Pdf jhumshifting cultivation is traditional landuse practice of north east region of india, is an ecologically and economically viable system of. This is the reason it is named as shifting cultivation. It is known as jhum in northeasten india, podu in odisha, andhra pradesh and some southern indian states. Sriram ananthanarayanan examines how the cycle of jhum cultivation is getting adversely affected, causing immense hardship to. Jan 20, 2014 jhum or shifting cultivation is still prevalent in many of the mountain communities in northeast india. Calibration approach for estimation of area under jhum.
Climate smart agricultural practices for food security in. Livelihood status of hill dwellers in bandarban, bangladesh abstract. Jhum cultivation is woven into the traditions and culture of the nagas with major land use is under jhum. The practice involves clearing vegetativeforest cover on landslopes of hills, drying and burning it before onset of monsoon and cropping on it thereafter. This paper examines economic implications of shifting cultivation in. While this farming method has been widely argued as environmentally destructive and.
Shifting cultivation known as jhumming is one of the most ancient system of farming believed to have originated in the neolithic period during 7000 b. Towards settled cultivation from traditional jhuma case. Manipur is a hilly region with large portion of its geographical areas being covered by forests. It plays an important role for providing livelihood and food security to many people in hilly areas where the other opportunity of cultivation is not feasible.
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