Problems of Agriculture in Tribal Regions -with special reference to Mizoram State, North East India

This paper describes the status of shifting cultivation in Mizoram and reviews the various alternative farming systems in the region as well as many other possible alternatives that may be acceptable to the people of Mizoram as modified shifting cultivation practice.

Despite intensive and lengthy government efforts throughout the Mizoram region to control shifting cultivation, the practice remains entrenched over large areas. The study presented here is based on the idea that shifting cultivation must make some sense, if thousands of farmers continue to practise it despite all incentives to stop. It is designed to take a fresh and unbiased look at the practice, and especially at innovations introduced by farmers in response to contemporary pressures and restraints. The hope is to find innovations that would help resolve the current situation, in which external development and policy interventions are not taking effect while the practice of shifting cultivation is deteriorating as a result of the limitations imposed on it. The aim is to raise awareness on issues related to shifting cultivation, to establish a platform for exchange of ideas, and to develop detailed policy recommendations to support the work of governments.

The paper identifies farmers’ traditional practices and more recent indigenous innovations that contribute to the benefits this farming system has to offer. These benefits accrue both to the practitioners and to other stakeholders, including national governments. Shifting cultivation and the farmers’ innovations in particular are found to contribute to forest cover and biodiversity conservation, while at the same time maintaining agricultural and forest productivity. Commercial niche products and organic farming contribute to economic development that is adjusted to mountain circumstances and builds on existing potential. The local institutions developed by shifting cultivation communities are found to be relatively strong, and to enhance social security and cultural integrity. Development approaches that build on this existing potential and capacity are likely to be more acceptable to the farmers concerned and more achievable.

Realising this potential, and the need for policy changes across the region, to discuss the problems of agriculture in Mizoram and formulate concrete policy recommendations. These recommendations are endorsed through the New Land Use Policy of Mizoram Govt and other Central Govt Policies which, in summary, envisages a re-examination of the policies in place, the removal of the explicit policies and instruments that discourage shifting cultivation, and the stronger implementation of existing beneficial policies. Since the adoption of those policies and advocacy for the recommendations, the issues related to shifting cultivation have gained renewed interest in policy debates as well as in research and development. The new perspective has been appreciated well beyond the initial countries of the study, including in Southeast Asia. The more appreciative and participatory approach, which has provided them with new options, has been welcomed by policy makers as well as development workers, researchers and government extension officers.