‘Jhum practices across Nagaland cultivate 105 different crops’

Our Correspondent
Kohima, March 12 (EMN): Experts from various fields on Tuesday discussed about issues concerning “forest degradation”—said to be caused mainly by shifting (or jhum) cultivation; land use issues, and natural resources exploitation in Nagaland—during an “international symposium” on integrated land-use management in the eastern Himalayas with special focus on Nagaland, at Kohima Science College. The three-day seminar will end on March 14.

Dr. Dean Current, the director of Centre for Integrated Natural Resources & Agricultural Management, University of Minnesota, USA, proposed ‘ways to address the issue’ through integrated, holistic, multidisciplinary, social, environmental and economic sustainability; and livelihood improvement.

Dr. Nesatalu Hiese from Nagaland Science & Technology Council, Kohima, maintained that the “land-use change is accelerating throughout Northeast India, and is the cause of many environmental problems.”

In her presentation on ‘Land use dynamics of Nagaland for past 15 years,’ she pointed out that unchecked economic activities and population growth had led to “scars on the landscapes.”

According to her, the practise of jhum cultivation has ‘diminished’ over the years in all the districts of Nagaland, except in Tuensang and Kiphire. The vast forest area left “abandoned” after cultivation, she said, was contributing to soil erosion.

Hiese expressed concern over the fact that the forest area of Nagaland has been decreased by 593.87 sq. km over the years. Conversely, the wasteland area and fallow land has increased by 526.83 sq. km and 19.89 Sq. km respectively.

According to the India State of Forest Report 2017, Nagaland’s forest area measuring 4509 sq km has decreased since 2015, due to shifting cultivation and plantation activities.

She suggested that the abandoned and fallow areas could be utilised for development—agricultural or horticultural plantation etc., planned development through utilisation of timely and appropriate remote sensing data.

The chief conservator of Forest and Climate Change in Nagaland, Supongnukshi said that the major source of livelihood for the people of the state was “cultivation and people hugely depend on jhuming.”

He also felt that failure to “formulate a land use policy that is environment-friendly, economically sustainable, and compatible with local socio-economic conditions is one roadblock towards achieving conservation” in the state.

He said that the “foremost” step towards forest conservation in Nagaland was “re-orientation of forestry activities to harness the strengths of the traditional forestry activities.”

According to him, there is a “strong set of community conservation and local governance at the village level.” Therefore, department concerned has been trying to encourage conservation areas by giving “technical support” to the villagers, he said.

As of today, he informed, more than 400 locations have been declared as Community Conservation Area in Nagaland. Private ownership of forest area in Nagaland is at 88.3%, he added.

105 ‘jhum’ crops
According to Dr. Sapu Changkija, a professor of Genetics and Plant Breeding at the School of Agricultural Sciences and Rural Development, Nagaland, the total number of crops cultivated via ‘jhum’ was 105.

He also shared that wild edible plants are found in ‘abundance’ when compared to domesticated plants and vegetables available in the state. As much as 248 types of wild edible fruits and over 128 wild edible vegetables are found in Nagaland, Changkija informed.

There are 52 types of wild edible flowers and another 58 types of wild edible mushroom found in Nagaland, he said.

The domesticated fruits are found in more than 26 types; edible roots and tubers – 42; edible seeds and nuts – 54; medicinal plants – more than 656; bamboo species – 57; orchid species (wild) – more than 345; cane species – 7; Fern – 280; indigenous local useful trees – 560; commercial timber plants – 147; spices and condiments – 68.

Changkija asserted that there are many species that are yet to be found and researched in the Northeast region.

Dr. John Zothanzama, an assistant professor of Environmental Science at Mizoram University, presented on the topic ‘Mizoram sloping land agricultural technology’.

Much like Nagaland, the state of Mizoram too, faces the consequences of shifting cultivation, as it is the main source of livelihood for the people, according to the professor.

He highlighted some of the major problems such as low productivity, low income and investments, lack of knowledge, poor market linkages, and lack of value addition of farm products that are presenting a hurdle to those who practice jhum cultivation.

Reality is different—Minister
The minister of Higher and Technical Education, Temjen Imna Along said that when it comes to “exploiting natural resources and the challenges attached to it” in Nagaland, the “reality is different from what is seen in the images.”

In his address at the symposium, Along said that even trees have been cut down for ‘our vested interests.’ The problem, he suggested, was in policy-implementation.

“The biggest problem is allowing the policy to penetrate down to the grassroots level. Despite the great ideas, great plans, the policies are unable to be implemented,” he said.

Speaking about the ‘indifferent attitude of the people towards sustainable development,’ Along said that deforestation is still practised today in Nagaland. He said that the state was on the verge of experiencing the effects of climate change.

Professor Pradeshi Lal, the vice chancellor of Nagaland University, spoke on the need to pay heed to integrated land-use management and see how one can best develop the resources for sustainable use.

According to him, it is of utmost requirement to address issues pertaining to drastic climate change, impact of global warming, greenhouse effect, etc., among the citizens.

Interestingly, the vice chancellor also suggested that the categorisation of Nagaland as a ‘biodiversity hotspot’ was of great academic interest because of the fact that it is not properly established as to how many endemic species are there in Nagaland.

The programme was organised by the department of Botany, Kohima Science College, Jotsoma, in collaboration with Minnesota University, United States of America.

The first day’s session also witnessed a panel discussion on ‘Next steps: identifying research needs and priorities.’ The discussions were aimed at bringing together key policy-makers and researchers to an interaction to highlight future research needs and priorities.

The panellists were Chief Secretary Temjen Toy; Agriculture Production Commissioner, T Imkonglemba Ao; director of Higher Education, Dr. I Anungla Aier; and representative of Food, Agriculture Organisation, Bangladesh, Robert Simpson—led by the moderator Dr. Paul Porter, professor of Agronomy and Plant Genetics at the University of Minnesota, USA.