Geographic
Year : 2016, Volume : 11, Issue : 1
First page : ( 70) Last page : ( 78)
Print ISSN : 0975-4121.

Need for settled farming and sustainable agriculture in the north-eastern region of India

Lalmuankima C.

Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Gov't Kolasib College, Kolasib

Online published on 30 June, 2017.

Abstract

The North-eastern region of India is a predominantly agricultural region. As tribal people make up the overwhelming majority of the population of the states of NE India, except for Assam, shifting agriculture (shifting cultivation) and forest resources play a major role in their economic life. The system of cultivation in this region is known as ‘Jhuming ’or ‘Shifting cultivation ’. Large area of land is destroyed every year for Jhum purposes and the region is under severe threat of soil erosion. The present study makes anattempt to reveal the need for settled farming and sustainable agriculture in the North-Eastern region of India by exploring the status of sustainable agriculture in N.E.R. and its consequences and highlighting the problems faced in the way of maintaining sustainable agriculture in N.E.R., and the various strategies to achieve sustainable agriculture in N.E.R. of India. It is revealed in the present study that 54.4% of the total geographical area of NE India is under forest cover and 14.5% of the total area is under cultivation. It is also revealed in the study that the total area of the N.E.R., used for practicing shifting cultivation or Jhuming is 277462.5 million hectares which causes a soil loss of 121.0 million tonnes annually. The study sorts out the problems confronting the people in the way of adopting settled farming and maintaining sustainable agriculture in the N.E.R., and lays down some strategies and alternatives for settled farming and sustainable agriculture in the region.

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