Jhum

Technique and crops

In the month of January, the jhummias cut down the forest on the slope of the hill. Afterwards, they clean the land and dry the wood, bamboo and plants they have cut down in the sun. Later around March–April, the dried material is burnt and made suitable for jhum cultivation.

Next, around May the jhummias dig holes in the burnt jhum soil and sow different types of seeds, including paddy, sweet pumpkin, cotton, sesame, and maize, which are cultivated several months later, depending on the particular crop.

Jhum cultivation does not take place in some years due to drought. Yields are expected to be high if there is no infestation of rats and insects.

Jhum cultivation requires that farmers move their plots from year to year to allow the land to recover. Previously, natural forests of the hills were kept uncultivated for a long time. In recent times, however, the uncultivated period has been dangerously reduced from the traditional ten years to two to three years. This is due to depletion of agricultural land and loss of available land due to population pressure, the Kaptai reservoir, and large-scale non-tribal settlement.