Examine Shifting Axe Cultivation Critically

Examine Shifting Axe Cultivation Critically

Shifting cultivation is commonly known as Jhum cultivation in India. The practice is similar to the form of shifting cultivation like other countries from the different corners of the world. It occupies a distinct place in the tribal economy of India. Many studies on shifting cultivation in India have been conducted by different institutions and researchers. In India shifting cultivation is largely found in the states of Andhra Pradesh, the hill districts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Odisha and Tripura.

Critical Examination of Shifting Cultivation:

1. The ideology of the state: Shifting cultivation is regarded as the productive force of a primitive society. In China, people use advanced productive force to replace primitive ones, which is the only one direction beyond the primitive society towards a socialist society.

2. Government policies: To change and replace shifting cultivation, the central government has implemented a number of policies, law and regulations to forbid shifting cultivation.

3. Social reform: The implementation of a socialist transformation by using its administrative system to replace traditional social organization and cultural systems, resulted in traditional production and living systems to lost their balance.

4. Population growth: The population of ethnic minorities living in mountainous areas of Yunnan Province has tripled, over the past 60 years. With the increase in the number of individuals the relationship between the population and use of the land has become uneasy, so it is difficult for minority groups to continue shifting cultivation.

5. Market economy: Along with other reforms and policies the central government of China is paying close attention to developing the market economy. In order to pursue economic interests, most ethnic minority groups started planting rubber and other cash trees such as tea and various fruits. As a result, shifting cultivation is disappearing quickly.

While shifting cultivation has been ecologically viable in certain low-density scenarios, modern pressures such as increased population density, ecological sensitivity, and economic development demands pose significant challenges to its sustainability. Understanding and integrating traditional ecological knowledge with modern conservation and agricultural practices could offer a way forward that supports both ecological sustainability and community livelihoods.