Z K Pahrü Pou
Mission Colony, Pfutsero
As a way of introduction: I was fortunate to be a part of NEN Farm School program as the valedictory speaker on the topic “Building a Sustainable Future and Responsibility of Youths”. NEN, Chizami, organised this training program under the theme: “Bridging the Farm-to-Plate-Gap,” with participants from various states of North East India. During the experience sharing, one of the participants told us that he was able to count 20 (twenty) variety of crops grown in the jhuming field. It reminds me about the importance of jhum cultivation for maintaining local food security, food diversity and sustainable environment.
Attempts of the State to Abolish Jhum Cultivation: Recently, the Central government has allocated Rs 20 Crore for rehabilitation of shifting/jhum cultivation in Nagaland state. For years, shifting cultivation,’ ‘jhum cultivation,’ ‘slash and burn method ‘or ‘swidden’ have been continuously under the scanner of policy makers for its productivity and ecological viability. There are peoples who consider jhum/shifting cultivation as unproductive and ecologically disastrous. Those who practice it are branded as uncivilised and undeveloped people (say villagers). This practice is considered as the sole factor of degradation of soil and forests. Hence farmers/villagers are urged to become ‘progressive farmers’ (favourite phrase of modern capitalists) by shifting from traditional type of cultivation to mono-cash crop cultivation. This, according to them, will ensure livelihood security of the susceptible tribals and preserve forest wealth. I am apprehensive whether eradication of the age-old practice of jhum cultivation that has been the subsistence economy for tribal people since time immemorial years will be really a wise decision. However, in this mad rushing world blinded by mammon, everything is measured in terms of money value including human beings.
Jhum Cultivation versus Modern Agriculture: Many people (so called modern-educated people) wanted to eradicate jhum cultivation and replace it with a new scientific approach in order to gain high yield. This would enable farmers to come out of poverty. To do this, farmers have to get inputs (seeds, chemicals, fertilizers, production tools etc) from the companies. The signs of the times tell us that it is high time to seriously study the various traditional methods of agriculture practiced by our fore-parents for centuries and revive them. Traditional type of agriculture maintains biodiversity and ecological balance and ensured food security for everyone. In jhum field, varieties of crops are grown in a year. Whereas, in cash cropping, only one type of crop is grown (mono-cropping). This affects the quality of air, water, and soil as well as gives big burden to living creatures to either adapt to the changes or die.
Modern agriculture does not really alleviate mass poverty. It needs technical knowledge to handle. The climate has to be very suitable. The time of sowing, transplanting and harvesting must be done at the right time. It needs good storage, transport and market. Otherwise it would go waste. It needs lots of fertilizers, pesticides and chemicals to get maximum yield. This gives huge burden to eco-system. It is labour intensive. Most of the cash crops have to be sold to certain company. Farmers have no right to ask for higher price. It is completely under the monopoly of Companies. When crops failed (for various reasons), farmers are heavily indebted leading to suicide.
Jhum Cultivation as Source of Livelihood and Culture: Our fore-parents have been practicing jhum cultivation for centuries. It is this practice that moulds and shapes our civilization since then. We were all cradled and brought up through the tradition of jhuming agriculture. It was part and parcel of tribal society from time immemorial. It was and is tribal’s culture (in fact the word ‘culture’ comes from agriculture). Jhum field provides platform for tribal people to work together. The spirit of solidarity is thus maintained. Many songs, dances and stories were composed based on jhum cultivation. In jhuming field, people worship gods/spirits - with many rites and rituals performed- for seed sowing, ploughing, and for harvesting. Can our people carry forward the ‘spirituality’ of jhum cultivation to cash cropping? In subsistence economy, people worship gods/spirit. In cash economy people worship money and the capitalist. In jhum field they sing song together while working. In it, people share the produce with another (which can never happen with cash crop). Our people have a great sense of respect for nature. They have a well-guarded time-table for jhum cultivation giving enough time for nature to regenerate. Jhum cultivation provides both livelihood and culture. A good lesson can be learnt from Khonoma Village (Nagaland) whose villagers have been successfully practicing jhum cultivation for centuries providing local food security and also without affecting the ecological health. The state needs to give special attention to farmer’s security for they are the backbone of our economy. If every village’s economy is well developed, we will have abundant food with healthy environment.
Corruption is the main cause of backwardness not jhum cultivation: Tribal people’s method of cultivation may appear to be ‘crude’ and ‘undeveloped’. But it has sustained life since time immemorial. I have not heard of tribal people who had died of starvation and hunger. I have not heard of ‘beggar’ in tribal society. Although each year’s harvest is crucial, their economic system –based on sharing and nature friendly method- keeps them alive at all times. Unfortunately, many town dwellers and educated people look down on villagers although they survive through the labour of farmers. Go and see those villagers living in faraway interior places. They lack nothing as far as food is concerned although they suffer of modern infrastructures. This is because of corruption in the government administration. If there is no corruption in the state’s administration and all welfare schemes reach the villagers, they will not suffer for anything. For instance, if Public Distribution System (PDS) works well and reach the targeted masses, the living condition of villagers will be enhanced to a great extend. If government’s institutions such as school and health work effectively in villages, children will get quality education. If the roads connecting to villages are well constructed, they will be able to trade off their produce and earn good amount. If all the schemes for the villagers reach them, they will be able to take care of natural resources. But because of corruption, the villagers were forced to exploit natural resources to meet their needs. Hence, corruption of all forms in government offices needs to be dealt with iron hand, not only to enhance villager’s living standard but also to save natural resources.
Concluding Remark: For any type of cultivation soil erosion and ecological degradation will be there but is lesser in jhum cultivation. Daman Singh, the Daughter of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in her book, “The Last Frontier: People and Forests in Mizoram” stated “that a jhum system in which the land is cultivated for a single year, causes less soil and water loss than modern systems of agriculture and horticulture. The relatively low extent and intensity of cultivation together with rapid regeneration, does not result in any climatic change due to deforestation in the jhums. The use of burnt vegetation makes far more economic and financial sense than the application of chemical fertilizer. The act of burning has many benefits other than building up soil fertility, and is an operation normally carried out with reasonable care”. Thus comparatively, jhum cultivation is more viable than modern agriculture in our context.
It is high time for government to do intensive research on jhum cultivation and not to take decision in haste to abolish it. Jhum cultivation is not just an economic activity. It has social dimension where communitarian spirit is maintained. It has religious dimension where the relationship with gods/spirits is established. It has political dimension where land boundaries are demarcated. To eradicate jhum cultivation altogether is not feasible. However, we can talk of ‘upgradation’ or ‘improvement’ of jhum cultivation including planting more trees in and around the jhum field. Research has to be build on strong relationship between social actors and pooling of age-old local technical knowledge with new knowledge from science and technology. In this regard, NEN, Chizami, has many things to teach us. For a sustainable local food security, for healthy living and for healthy environment, the practice of jhum cultivation should be encouraged and maintained.
