(YET UNNAMED) COLD WHITE THE RICE IS FRAGRANT, RESEMBLES ‘TIN 100...

34. (Yet Unnamed) Cold White The rice is fragrant, resembles ‘Tin 100

saang’, but ripens much earlier, October

1

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week.

Second, as farmers take advantage of market opportunities, easily accessible areas have become

highly susceptible to over-exploitation. In Karuangmunan village, whose economy runs on banana

plantation with 96% families owning at least one banana farm (Table 1.8), almost all the banana

farms are concentrated in a 5 km radius from the village. This enables quick and cost-effective

transportation as it is near the road. However, in the medium and long run, this practice is bound

to lead to over-exploitation of the land. Farmers also extensively use ‘Roundup’ produced by

Monsanto as a weedicide in the banana plantations. Long term effect on soil and health are yet to

be assessed even though elsewhere the company is embroiled in court, specifically for

‘Roundup’ 16 .

Third, the changing agricultural scenario has put traditional institutions under considerable

pressure. Shifting agriculture works within an intricate system of property rights (Diaw, 1997). In

most cases, private ownership is recognised even though access is often regulated by the

community. In the Northeast Indian context, provisions in the Constitution has allowed for

traditional institutions to manage resources 17 . Some villages in the study area like Chiuluan,

Ijeirong and Shingra have cultivated robust institutions. Therefore, forest resources in these

villages are not vulnerable to over-exploitation. Shingra village even ‘borrowed’ forest land from

a neighbouring village for jhuming for a year as the village’s own land was not yet ready for

another jhum cycle. However, as agriculture moves away from subsistence to profit making,

individual interests takes precedence. Quite often the efficacy of institutions is undermined and its

authority subverted.

The efficacy of traditional institutions is further challenged by the entry of global capital. The

promise of monetary compensation that follows rail and road construction often leads to

competing claims, litigations and even bloodshed. In the study area, Karuangmuan village

witnessed a complete breakdown of institutions over claims of land ownership as compensation

for railway construction loomed large. At present, the Village Authority exercises little control

over management of land. Private interests govern access and use of land. In such instances,

without proactive institutions, sensitive ecosystems are extremely prone to mismanagement.

New Questions

In the context of present agrarian transformation, the traditional questions of sustainability based

on the fallow length does not appear to be the central concern. Instead, ecological concerns arise

out of a totally different context of increased market penetration. Therefore it requires a different

approach even though the challenge is not too different. It calls for a more nuanced understanding

of the way the system works, especially the institutional aspect which did not receive adequate

attention in the past.

16

https://traloihay.net

17

The villages under study also manage their own resources under the Autonomous District Councils. Manipur’s hill

districts are governed by The Manipur (Hill Areas) District Councils Act, 1971. Various other districts in the region

are governed by the Sixth Schedule which grant considerable powers to the traditional institutions.

Positioning shifting agriculture in relation to the market economy is essentially a new approach.

It questions the simplistic, linear narratives that had captured both scholarly discourse and public

imagination for a considerably long time. Instead, it recognizes the agency of the farmer in

transforming shifting agriculture in rather diverse and non-linear ways. It also brings into sharp

focus the role of the state and its policies towards jhuming. In fact, the Indian state has played a

much larger role in shaping the pace and direction of transformation in jhuming than has been

acknowledged.

In this approach, the ecological question is just one of the many questions that need to be explored.

Many of these themes were earlier overshadowed by an over-emphasis on environmental

concerns. For instance, livelihoods of jhuming farmers have hardly been studied compared to the

work done in the Southeast Asian context. These themes are no doubt related as important

concerns on ecology are tied up with farmers’ choices.

Conclusion

Shifting agriculture has transformed considerably since the British first encountered it and

documented its practice. Far from what it was assumed to be, the system has shown considerable

resilience and continues to be an important part of the hill economy and landscape. An over-

emphasis on a crucial component of the system, namely the fallow cycle, prompted many scholars

to predict its impending collapse. However, this paper argues that the transformation of shifting

agriculture in the present context is driven mainly by the market.

Market driven agriculture, however, raises its own set of challenges. As the production system

transitions from subsistence to production for profit, individual interests take precedence. In a

context where local institutions are weak and ineffective, resources are especially susceptible to

mismanagement and over-exploitation. This has given rise to an entirely different question of

sustainability.

References:

Bose, Saradindu (ed.) (1991). Shifting cultivation in India. Anthropological Survey of India,

Ministry of Human Resource Development, Dept. of Culture, Govt. of India.

Cairns, Malcolm (ed. and contrib.) (2007) Voices from the forest: Integrating indigenous

knowledge into sustainable upland farming. Washington, District of Columbia: Resources for

the Future.

Cramb, R.A et al. (2009). Swidden transformations and rural livelihoods in Southeast Asia.

Human Ecology, 37: 323-346.

Khumbah, A. Lozaanba (2014). Revisiting Transitions in Northeast India: A Case Study of Two

Villages in Manipur. Unpublished M. Phil Dissertation submitted to Jawaharlal Nehru University:

New Delhi.

Ramakrishnan, P. S (1992). Shifting agriculture and sustainable development: an

interdisciplinary study from North-Eastern India. Man and the Biosphere Series, Vol. 10, Paris:

UNESCO and The Parthenon Publishing Group.

Sachchidananda (1989). Shifting cultivation in India. New Delhi: Concept Publications.

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Nagaland, North-East India. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 52(1): 56–84.

Diaw, Mariteuw Chimere (1997). Si, Nda and Ayong: Shifting cultivation, land use and property

rights in southern Cameroon. Rural Development Forestry Network, Network Paper 21e, Summer