Slash-and-burn agriculture in Eastern Himalayan zone of Arunachal Pradesh, North East India

摘要

‘Jhum kheti’, commonly known as slashand-burn or shifting cultivation, is the most predominant farming system practised by the hilly communities of North East (NE) India 1 , where the jhumias transform forests into rural landscapes. This farming system still persists and plays an important role in providing subsistence livelihoods to at least 300–500 million people worldwide 2 , which is intricately linked to socio-cultural, ecological and economic aspects of the ethnic hill communities 3 . The practice involves a series of steps such as selection of a site on the hilly slopes, slashing of primary/secondary forests; burning the slashed vegetation after drying followed by cultivation of crops of agricultural importance for 1–3 years and finally leaving the land fallow 4 . Nonetheless, the productivity of the system depends on the temporary increase in nutrient availability of the soil, the buffering capacity of ash and the regenerative capacity during the fallow periods.