EXTENT OF SHIFTING CULTIVATION AND ITS SOCIO-ECONOMICIMPLICATIONS IN SAIHA DISTRICT, MIZORAM, INDIABobby Beingachhi and David ZothansangaAbstract Shifting cultivation is a primitive form of agricultural practice that barely meets the minimum requirementsof food grains. It is largely confined to the hill slopes, often extending to steep gradients in all the hilldistricts of the region. This practice normally involves the clearing of forests and is allowed to dry up andthe residue is burnt up. The fields or the clearings are prepared and wait the onset of the rains. After which,with the broadcasting methods seeds are sown and crops are cultivated. These jhum fields are frequentlylocated near the permanent settlement sites or located within accessible distance. These fields are temporaryas they are used only for one or two seasons; after this, the same process is repeated in adjacent forest areas.In other words, there is a distinct rotation of fields that averages 3 to 10 years, this is the jhum cycle. Withincreasing population pressure, this jhum cycle has gradually declined. As a result this practice has becomean uneconomical preposition. |