Shifting Cultivation In North-East India-Policy Issues And Options

Shifting Cultivation is regarded as s first step in transition from food gathering and hunting to food production and is widespread in the hills and mountains of North-East India. This is an extensive method of agriculture in which farmers rotate land rather than crops to sustain livelihoods. Despite persistent efforts by official agencies to control shifting cultivation, there is no sign of let-up in its spread, which is as pervasive as it was ever before. This study after discussing at length various measures adopted for controlling shifting cultivation, highlights the factors contributing to its tenacity and the issues involved in addressing the problem successfully. The study deals with issues connected with land and forest policies, social dynamics, techno-economic and political economy considerations behind the continuation of shifting cultivation in different States of the North-East region.

B.P. Maithani (b. 1943) was the Director, North-East India Centre of the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) at Guwahati for 13 years (1983-1995). He was also Member Convener (NEZ), Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) for six years (1995-2001). He also worked as Dy. Director, Centre for Micro-Planning, Director, Centre for Sustainable Economic Development and Director, Centre for Institution Building and Training at NIRD, Hyderabad. Earlier, he worked as Lecturer at Government Post-Graduate College, Pithoragarh, Uttarancha. He has worked as Consultant to Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and Pacific, Dhaka, International Centre on Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, Commonwealth Secretariat, London, and International Fund for Agriculture Development, Rome. He is associated with several professional bodies and academic institutions. He has to his credit eight books and about 100 research reports and articles on rural development, planning, natural resource management and human resource development.