Shifting cultivation in INDIA

INTRODUCTION
• The North eastern comprises of eight states namely,Assam,Arunachal
pradesh, Manipur,Meghalaya,Mizoram,Nagaland,Sikkim and Tripura.

• Among the NE states,Meghalaya and Nagaland are having the largest jhum
cycle of 9 years followed by Tripura 8 years,Assam 7years ,Manipur 6 years
and the states like Arunachal pradesh and Mizoram are having the lowest
jhum cycle of 3 to 4 years.

• Apart from NE region it is practice in Andhra

pradesh ,Kerala,Karnataka ,Orissa and Madhya pradesh.

(Parag etal.,2010)
SHIFTING CULTIVATION- A form of agriculture in
which an area of ground is cleared of vegetation
and cultivated for a few years(2-5) and then
abandoned for a new area until its fertility has been
naturally restored.
 Table1:The area utilized for Jhum during last 10
year
Year Area under Jhum in Ha Changes in %
1997-1998 68,114 --
1998-1999 68,392 0.4
1999-2000 36,285 -53
2000-2001 35,798 -47.4
2001-2002 40,305 -40.8
2002-2003 41,356 -39.3
2003-2004 43,447 -36.2
2004-2005 40,969 -39.9
2005-2006 40,100 -41.1
2006-2007 41,465 -39.1
2010-2011 28,562 -58.1
(Sati etal.,2014)
Table2: Shifting cultivation in North Eastern Region.

State Annual area under Fallow period Minimum area Number of

shifting cultivation (in years) under shifting families practicing
(sq.kms.) cultivation one shifting cultivation
time or the other
(sq.kms.)
Arunachal Pradesh 700 3-10 2100 54000
Assam 696 2-10 1392 58000
Manipur 900 4-7 3600 70000
Meghalaya 530 5-7 2650 52290
Mizoram 630 3-4 1890 50000
Nagaland 190 5-8 1913 116046
Tripura 223 5-9 1115 43000
Total 3869 - 14660 443336

(Source:Basic Statistics of NER 2002)

 Table 3: Soil erosion calendar of shifting cultivation system
Month Agricultural operation Erosion problem Soil erosion (t/ha)
Min Max
January to April Selection of plot, forest cutting, Displacement of loose soil materials to 0.0 22.4
burning and cleaning of hill slopes down hills and rolling down of
and sowing begins earthworm casting, soil erosion as
above and wash due to rains.

May Sowing/weeding Heavy soil wash, faint drilling at foot 0.2 61.9
hills on silt deposits

June Weeding Heavy wash of soil aggregates 0.2 45.4

July Weeding/harvesting begins Heavy wash of soil aggregates, crop 1.8 21.9
root exposed, farm soil visible.

August Harvesting and occasional Soil wash continues 1.0 29.6

weeding
September Harvesting Moss appears, soil erosion slows down 0.1 13.8
October Harvesting Soil erosion appreciably reduced 0.0 2.7
November Harvesting No erosion, moss turns blackish 0.0 0.0
December Harvesting/threshing/carry harvest No erosion 0.0 0.0
back to home

Year Cropping with zero tillage on steep Heavy soil wash 3.3 201.4
slope.

(Yadav et al., 2006)

 Table 4:Impacts of the shifting cultivation system on the physical
properties of the soil in the cultivation and fallow phases.
Physical soil Impact Cause Effect
properties

exposure of the soil in

Texture Loss of material in the surface the cultivation cycles
Increase in surface runoff,erosion
layer of the soil and in the beginning
of the fallow period
exposure of the soil in
the cultivation cycles Compaction, decrease in the absorption
Alteration of the fine fraction
Structure and in the beginning capacity,soil organic matter,increase in
of the soil
of the fallow period leaching,erosion

Bulk density Growth of the gradual recuperation of the initial density

Altered
cultivars prior to the conversion phase
exposure of the soil in
the cultivation cycles
Moisture Altered and in the beginning Decrease in soil moisture
of the fallow period

exposure of the soil in

the cultivation cycles
Increase in decompostion with the
Temperature Altered and in the beginning
decrease of organic matter
of the fallow period

(Ribeiro etal.,2013)
Table 5:Slope wise Distribution of Shifting Cultivation (Area in sq.km)
Year Shifting Slope Category
Cultivation
Moderate Moderately Steep Very Most Total
Steep
Steep Steep

1999 Abandoned 7.84 7.05 3.00 1.03 0.92 19.84

Current 26.53 18.76 9.62 5.03 4.24 64.18

2009 Abandoned 22.10 11.82 6.24 4.32 4.27 48.75

Current 66.81 35.38 15.97 11.37 11.20 140.70

2013 Abandoned 19.35 10.42 5.58 3.86 3.81 43.02

Current 73.48 41.69 19.46 12.23 11.89 158.80

(Sarma etal.,2015)
A

(Abhishek raj.,2015)
 SEASON


December-January:selecting
forest patches and clearing
vegetation .
 February-March:The
herbs ,shrubs,twigs and
branches burnt.
 April –May:seeds are sown.
 Generally seeds include
cereals ,vegetables and
oilseeds.

(Vishwambhar etal.,2014)
 Impact of shifting cultivation in NER
• Deforestation
• Erosion
• Run off and leaching
• Mono cropping
• Loss of nutrients and top soil
• Invasion by exotic weeds
• Drying up of the natural stream

(Parag etal.,2010)pra(
Deforestation
Erosion
 Run-off

It is that part of precipitation ,snow melt,or

irrigation water that appears in uncontrolled
surface streams,rivers,drains or sewers.
 Monocropping
• Growing a single crop year
after year on the same land.
• Impacts
Eliminates biological controls
changing organism
resistance
soil degradation.
 Loss of nutrients and top soil
Top soil, rather than sub soil,contains most of the
nutrients necessary for plant growth.

Affected 2.7 million ha of land, and each year 0.45

ha of land fall under shifting cultivation.

Organic soil is carried away,the surface is left with

course,less productive particles.

(Parag etal.,2010)
 Invasion by exotic weeds

The most noxious invasive weeds are parthenium

hysterophorus,lantana camara,eupatorium
adenophorum,opuntia elatior and leucaena
leucocephala.
Drying up of natural stream
Table 6: practice of shifting cultivation is prevalent in the northeastern
region of India, and it results in an annual loss of……
Soil 601 million tonnes

N 685.8 thousand tonnes

P 99.8 thousand tonnes

K 511.1 thousand tonnes

Mn 22.6 thousand tonnes

Zn 14.0 thousand tonnes

Ca 57.1 thousand tonnes

Mg 43.0 thousand tonnes

(Ghosh et al., 2015)

 Table7: Impacts of the shifting cultivation system on the chemical
properties of the soil in the cultivation and fallow phases.
Chemical soil Impact Cause Effect
properties
Acidification of the soil due to the
Clearing of
pH Altered increase in the rate of
vegetation
decomposition.

Dynamic of the Volatilization of N,C Use of fire Decrease in soil fertility.

macronutrients
Positive:increase in CEC,increase in
Cation exchange electric conductivity ,greater
Altered Use of fire
capacity availability of bases ,increase in soil
fertility

Organic Altered amount Use of fire

Volatilization of N and C.
matter

Increased rate of decomposition with

Soil organic Clearing of
Altered stock a flow of carbon into the
carbon vegetation
atmosphere.

(Ribeiro etal.,2013)
 Table 8:Effect of fallow cycles on soil fertility parameters
under different land uses practices in shifting cultivation
Fallow pH O.C Av.N Av.P Av.K Av.S Total N Total P Total K
cycles (%) (Kg/ha) (Kg/ha) (Kg/ha) (Kg/ha) (%) (%) (%)

0-1 years 4.42 1.82 227.01 12.92 232.86 20.88 0.214 0.103 1.289

3-4 years 4.37 1.55 155.45 8.18 156.76 16.19 0.147 0.078 1.147

5-7 years 4.46 1.80 180.45 11.51 182.30 17.92 0.195 0.096 1.306

8-10 4.54 1.97 218.57 14.53 203.90 21.26 0.228 0.114 1.396
years

12 years 4.55 1.83 191.91 11.09 188.89 18.22 0.186 0.082 1.566

(Leindah etal.,2013)
Table 9:Comparative distribution of land resource of NER(In percent)
States Cultivable Fallow land Current Area sown
waste other than fallows/land more than
land/land current once/total
fallows/land cropped area
Arunachal pradesh 0.8 0.9 0.5 38.0
Assam 1.0 0.8 1.4 33.0
Manipur NA NA NA 33.0
Meghalaya 19.8 8.3 2.9 18.0
Nagaland 4.1 5.0 5.8 4.0
Sikkim 0.1 1.3 0.6 25.0
Tripura 0.1 0.1 0.1 35.0
Mizoram 6.0 8.4 1.8 NA
NER 3.2 2.2 1.4 30.0

(Parag etal.,2010)
 Table10:Crops grown in a Typical Jhum
Location of the jhum plot
field
Name of crop

Boundary Tapioca,cucumber,pumkin,perilla,bitter gourd,sweet potato

Burnt heaps Bitter gourd,brinjal,ginger,occimum sp.1,occimum sp.2

Burnt bamboo groves Chilli

All over the field Rice ,colocasia,millet,maize

Near field hut Larger and smaller leek,summer and winter mustard leaves

Near poles and tree stumps Beans and lablab

(Surajbhan .,2009)
 Table11:Highest comparative advantages for products of NER:Regional Specialization
Index(RSI)
States Products
Arunachal pradesh Small millets,maize,ginger,pineapple

Assam Tea,rapeseed and mustard,sugarcane

Manipur Chillies,rice,ginger,pineapple

Meghalaya Ginger,potato,sesamum,pineapple

Nagaland Small millet,maize

Sikkim Ginger

Tripura Natural rubber,coconut,bananas,pineapple

Mizoram Ginger,maize and sesamum

(Parag etal.,2010)
Losses of soil through Shifting Cultivation
 An annual loss of soil to the tune of 181 million
tonnes in the north eastern hill region.
 Continuous dilution of the forest cover in the region
due to shifting cultivation, firewood, and timber
collection is posing the most crucial problem
resulting in poor soil health and environmental
degradation in the hills.

(Parag etal.,2010)
IRRIGATION
PRACTICES

(Solomon etal.,2005)
 Bamboo drip irrigation
In this system water is carried out with
the help of different form of bamboo culms
and further distributed into different bamboo
water channels for irrigation of cropland.it
prevent leakage and loss of water on the
way.

(Solomon etal.,2005)
Terrace irrigation
The hill streams are tapped as soon as they
emerge from the forest and the water is channeled to
accommodate a series of terrace.water flows continuously
from the upper to lower terraces.this method of irrigation
practice is widely used for non-fertile land to be utilized for
raising rice crops..

(Solomon etal.,2005)
Control measures

(Parag etal.,2010)
 Soil management practices
• Soil erosion is minimized through traditional
methods such as by using bamboo culms,stones
and gunny bags filled with soil.
• Applying green leaf manures and FYM.It helps in
improving soil fertility through fixation of nitrogen
using microorganisms.
• Mulching with weeds.
• Minimum tillage.
• Contour tillage operation.
Weed management

(Sourabh etal.,2013)
 Strategies
• Providing employment opportunities and income generation on a
regular basis through proper utilization of the land resources.

• Proper reclamation and development of the wasteland through

agro-forestry and silvi-pasture practices.

• By forming village forest committees for the protection and

development of the degraded forests.

• Generating employment opportunities during the lean season of

forestry operations will also prevent tribals from shifting to other
areas.employing the tribals for collection of kendu leaves and sal
seeds and also involving the tribals in the various rural
employment schemes is also the need of the hour.
(Parag etal.,2010)
Traditional harvesting
• It varies depending on the
type of crop.for cereal
crop picking up the ear
heads only using a knife
or sickle.for root crops
spatulas are used and for
leafy vegetables by using
knives and sickles.
Post harvest practices
 CONCLUSION

Soil erosion is minimized through traditional

methods such as by using bamboo culms,stones
and gunny bag filled with soil.
Proper reclamation and development of the
wasteland through agro-forestry and silvi-pasture
practices.