From jhum to broom: Agricultural land-use change and food security implications on the Meghalaya Plateau, India

Behera, Rabi Narayan; Nayak, Debendra Kumar; Andersen, Peter C.; Måren, Inger Elisabeth

doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0691-3

Cited by 57 publications

(44 citation statements)

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“…Prokop and Poręba (2012) indicated long-term detrimental features of such cultivation system in which soil erosion rates exceed the rates of soil formation. Negative environmental effects of crop intensification began to dominate studies, leading to widespread concern about declines in soil quality and food security (Behera, Nayak, Andersen, & Måren, 2016;Grogan et al, 2012).…”

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confidence: 99%

Impact of topography and sedentary swidden cultivation on soils in the hilly uplands of North‐East India

et al. 2018

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A hilly catchment (4 km2) was selected to quantify the changes in physico‐chemical soil properties when traditional shifting cultivation is converted to sedentary swidden cultivation (elements of slash and burn cultivation with short fallow period), locally called bun (cropping in rows of raised beds formed from soil), in the central part of the Meghalaya Plateau. Assuming that the monsoonal climate, deep‐weathered granites, and time are relatively uniform over the small catchment, the differences in soil were compared on two contrasting landforms (flat ridges and steep slopes) and three land use types (natural deciduous forest, sedentary swidden cultivation of potatoes, and fallow land with pine forest) within each landform. In contrast to previous studies in region, soil fertility indices calculated in the present study indicated that the bun system can also improve soil quality. Soil response significantly varied at spatial scales, however, and in terms of the possibility of continuing sustainable cultivation in the future. At a local scale on flat terrain upon granites, soil under swidden cultivation had the higher fertility indices, than fallow land and natural forest, whereas steep slope cultivated soil had the lowest fertility indices, following fallow land and natural forest. Therefore, bun system can be efficient in tropical regions with gentle terrain and limited forest resources. At a regional scale, low potato yield combined with a growing food demand forces farmers to expand potato cultivation on steep slopes, the dominant landform in the Meghalaya, increasing the risk of soil degradation. Introducing agroforestry with pine trees into bun cultivation can mitigate the rates of soil degradation on steep slopes.

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confidence: 99%

Impact of topography and sedentary swidden cultivation on soils in the hilly uplands of North‐East India

et al. 2018

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“…Women have not received any government assistance for agriculture in home compounds or for processed goods produced there, demonstrating a large degree of social exclusion of this social group from the larger agricultural economy. Studies of home gardens, and women’s preponderance in cultivating these gardens (Moreno-Black et al 1996; Keys 1999; Christie 2004, 2008; WinklerPrins and Souza 2005; Lope-Alzina 2007; Murrieta and WinklerPrins 2009; Galhena et al 2013; Behera et al 2016), have been brought to light, for example, their importance for household food security, for agrobiodiversity, for maintaining family ties, and for women’s income. However, they have rarely focused on governmental or non-governmental support of either the agricultural production or processing activities in these spaces.…”

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confidence: 99%

Gendered vulnerabilities and grassroots adaptation initiatives in home gardens and small orchards in Northwest Mexico

Buechler

2016

Ambio

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With the retreat of the state under neoliberalism, the lack of (or negligible) government and non-governmental support reasserts grassroots initiatives as a global-change strategy. A feminist political ecology approach and the concept of adverse inclusion were used to facilitate an analysis of social differences shaping local-level adaptive responses. Adaptive responses of small farmers in the border village of San Ignacio, Sonora, Mexico, who are increasingly vulnerable to climate change, water scarcity, and changing labor markets were studied. Gender differences in production sites translate into diverse vulnerabilities and adaptive strategies. Local capacities and initiatives should be a focus of research and policy to avoid viewing women and men as passive in the face of global change. The dynamic strategies of San Ignacio women and men in home gardens and small orchards hold lessons for other regions particularly related to adaptation to climate change via agrobiodiversity, water resource management, and diversified agricultural livelihoods.

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“…Wangpan and Tangjang [47] pointed out similar findings for the Arunachal Pradesh region of India, where jhumming plays an important role harbouring precious germplasms of different indigenous plant species, which are also selected for taste preferences and nutritional benefits. Dietary diversity has been found to be higher under a jhum regime in comparison to other cash cropping systems [48]. Mixed-or multi-cropping systems are more resilient to disturbances [49]; however, mixing more species requires more work and knowledge, especially about timing.…”

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confidence: 99%

Exploring Livelihood Strategies of Shifting Cultivation Farmers in Assam through Games

Bos¹,

Cornioley²,

Dray³

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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Understanding landscape change starts with understanding what motivates farmers to transition away from one system, shifting cultivation, into another, like plantation crops. Here we explored the resource allocation strategies of the farmers of the Karbi tribe in Northeast India, who practice a traditional shifting cultivation system called jhum. Through a participatory modelling framework, we co-developed a role-playing game of the local farming system. In the game, farmers allocated labour and cash to meet household needs, while also investing in new opportunities like bamboo, rubber and tea, or the chance to improve their living standards. Farmers did embrace new options where investment costs, especially monetary investments, are low. Returns on these investments were not automatically re-invested in further long-term, more expensive and promising opportunities. Instead, most of the money is spend on improving household living standards, particularly the next generation’s education. The landscape changed profoundly based on the farmers’ strategies. Natural ecological succession was replaced by an improved fallow of marketable bamboo species. Plantations of tea and rubber became more prevalent as time progressed while old practices ensuring food security were not yet given up.

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From jhum to broom: Agricultural land-use change and food security implications on the Meghalaya Plateau, India

Cited by 57 publications

References 11 publications

Impact of topography and sedentary swidden cultivation on soils in the hilly uplands of North‐East India

Impact of topography and sedentary swidden cultivation on soils in the hilly uplands of North‐East India

Gendered vulnerabilities and grassroots adaptation initiatives in home gardens and small orchards in Northwest Mexico

Exploring Livelihood Strategies of Shifting Cultivation Farmers in Assam through Games

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