34. (Yet Unnamed) Cold White The rice is fragrant, resembles ‘Tin 100
saang’, but ripens much earlier, October
1
st 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.
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