Canopies and Corridors - International Fund for Animal Welfare

practiced in the area. Everybody has the usufructary
right on land, i.e., they have the right to use land
without possessing the actual ownership. But with
the introduction of wet-rice cultivation that makes
private ownership of the land essential, therefore,
private ownership is on the increase. In many cases
private ownership is associated with permanent
holdings. But unlike other peasant societies in the
plains elsewhere in India, the Garos, even if they
possess some sort of permanent holding, cannot
transfer it to outsiders (non-natives) if the holding, is
a part of Aabhang land, i.e., the village territory under
a Chief.
Forest
Meghalaya is a treasure house of vast natural
wealth. Forests of different type viz., tropical, subtropical
and temperate forest occur. Varied
topography, climatic and edaphic conditions of the
state favour the diversity of vegetation. Soil
characteristics which affect the distribution, variety
and richness of species, varies from place to place.
However, wanton destruction of forests, like in most
other parts of the country, has diminished the state’s
natural wealth.
According to the State Forest Report (FSI. 2001)
the forest cover of the state was 15, 584 . km 2 This
accounts for around 69.5% of the state’s total
geographic area. Per capita forest area in the state
was 0.64 hectares compared to the national average
of 0.11 hectares. The Reserved Forest, Protected
Forest and National Parks under the control of the
state government cover only 1124 km 2 while 8372
km 2 is Un-classed Forest, managed by Autonomous
District Councils and private owners.
Agriculture
Almost the entire state has been or is being
influenced by shifting cultivation, except for some
pockets of valley bottomlands, and reserve forests.
Shifting cultivation is a type of agro forestry, and is
the most widespread farming system involving
sequential rotation of forest vegetation and
cultivated crops. It is characterized by clearing a
patch of forest by slashing and burning vegetation,
before planting crops for a year or two, and then
leaving the land fallow for a long period to allow the
forest to regenerate. There are wide variations in
this general pattern. This farming system has been
an object of continual reproach by agricultural
experts and development agencies for supposedly
being destructive of the forest and soil fertility.
Canopies and Corridors
Those who are not aware of their complex social
mechanisms of preventing despoliation of forests
tend to explain their practice of periodic forest
clearance as an example of ‘the tragedy of the
commons’. However, in the face of all opposition
from agricultural experts and in spite of
governmental programmes to phase it out, shifting
cultivation (Jhum) has remained popular among
most hill tribes in the humid tropics. The system
persists because local farmers find it more
productive than any other farming system on the
hill slopes.
Scientific literature has generally condemned
Jhum as destructive to the soil, forest and
biodiversity. This is sometimes also upheld as an
evidence of how indigenous peoples have blindly
destroyed their environment. Agricultural experts
allude to the presumed un-sustainability of this
type of primitive agriculture to justify agricultural
modernization and development. However,
several studies have shown that traditional
methods of shifting cultivation causes the lowest
amount of soil erosion, even on steep hill slopes,
compared with any other land clearing and tillage
system (Lal, 1987; Ramakrishnan, 1992; Forsyth,
1994 ). Soil erosion is minimized by a brief period
of exposure of the soil after burning, mulching,
negligible or no tillage and traditional preventive
measures like horizontal placing of unburnt logs
across the slope (Mertz., 2002). The environmental
impact of shifting cultivation depends more on the
length of fallow and the pace of regeneration of the
forest during fallow period than on the standard
slash and burn activity. The jhum cycle in the past
varied from 20 to 30 years but due to the increase in
population the jhum cycle has now been reduced to
around 3-5 years.
In Meghalaya, 760 km 2 land is under shifting
cultivation and about 14% of the population of the
state is involved in this activity. The practice of
shifting cultivation is highly prevalent in the Garo
Hills. Of the total number of house holds engaged in
shifting cultivation in Meghalaya, 74% are from the
Garo Hills alone (Table 8). Jhum is practiced at
altitudes between 100 and 1600 m.
Cropping pattern
Mixed cropping is a common feature in shifting
agriculture. Yam, cucumber, watermelon and other
vegetables are commonly grown during the kharif
season while during the rabi season beans, cabbage
and mustard are grown in the same plot of land. The
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