Published Paper Details:

Abstract: The strain on land has increased dramatically because of population growth, especially in developing nations. Jhum cultivation is a time-immemorial tradition that is still widely used in the hill districts of Manipur, where jhumians spend a lot of money on unreliable land usage. Due to population growth, the cycle of shifting that used to occur every 20 to 30 years in a specific location has been shortened to 2 to 5 years, which has worsened the environment, anthropogenic and geomorphologic problems. The aim and objective of the present study is to explore the causes, effects and affects of shifting cultivation in the study area. The major sources of data used in this research were primary data collected from four villages in the Manipur hill districts of Ukhrul, Chandel, Senapati, Tamenglong and Churachandpur. Secondary data are collected from several census publications compiled by the Directorate of Census Operations, Government of Manipur. Over the years, land in the hill tribal areas has changed, emphasising private property ownership more and more and thereby, the conventional slash-and-burn method of farming causes environmental disturbances and land degradation. Jhuming cultivation, though it is a primitive high rate of population growth, trash cycle is becoming shortened; the Jhum area and intensity are all increasing. It is destroying the forests and rich biodiversity and putting them in danger of being completely degraded due to the loss of top soil, fertility and vegetative cover, eventually turning them into a desolate wasteland.