Jhum

The traditional farming of small ethnic groups and Bengalis in the Chittagong Hill Tracts is known as jhum cultivation. The jhummias cultivate this primitive jhum in a special way on the slopes of the hills. In English, jhum cultivation is known as shifting cultivation. Jhum is the primitive and main source of livelihood for the people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Jhum cultivation is practiced in Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban, the only three hill districts of Bangladesh.[1] This slash and burn agriculture locally known as jhum is also practiced by the indigenous communities of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland in India.[2]

For the dance, see Jhum dance.

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 it in the sun. Later around March–April, it is burnt in the fire and made suitable for jhum cultivation. Next, in the Bengali month of Baishakh and Jyeshtha (around May), they dig holes in the burnt jhum soil and sow different types of seeds including paddy, marfa, sweet pumpkin, cotton, sesame, maize. And the paddy ripens in the month of Asharh and Shrabon (around July). Then began the work of harvest collection. At that time marfa, green chillies, sugar and maize are cultivated. Paddy ripens in September. Finally, cotton, sesame and barley are picked at home in the month of November.[3]

Jhum cultivation does not take place in some years due to drought and lack of rainfall for several years. Yields are expected to be huge if there is no infestation of rats and other insects.

The main strategy was to get enough land for jhum cultivation. Previously, natural forests of the hills were kept uncultivated for a long time. Therefore, in recent times 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 due to population pressure and reservoir, and large-scale non-tribal settlement. Jhum cultivation causes extensive damage to the environment.[4][5]

Drawbacks

Harmful effects of jhum cultivation include loss of soil fertility, soil erosion, deforestation, destruction of wildlife habitat and flooding of rivers and lakes. As a result, production declines so much that a Jhummia family cannot survive in one place. The most widely followed minimum seven to eight-year cycle is currently reduced to three to four years which is not at all sufficient to compensate for the loss and increase fertility. Due to these reasons, the crop yield has now declined at a huge rate. Therefore, it is very important to invent suitable alternatives for jhum cultivation.[6]

See also

References
  1. "Robust Yield of Jhum in the Hill Tracts". Bangladesh Pratidin. August 10, 2014. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  2. "Jhum". Britannica. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  3. Choudhury, Sanjoy. "Jhum". Geography and You. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  4. Dhar, Bijoy (October 3, 2020). "Jhum farmers happy with robust yield in Rangamati". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  5. "Rangamati jhum cultivators start harvesting paddy". The Daily Star. September 26, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  6. Islam, Md Shahidul. "Jhum". Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.