www.IndianJournals.com Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale Downloaded From IP - 14.139.207.145 on dated 13-Jun-2014 Sustainability of Jhum Cultivation as perceived by the Tribal People of Tripura Jayasree Datta 1 , N R Gangadharappa 2 and Amit Debnath 3 1 ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Tripura Center, Lembucherra, Agartala-799 210, India 2 Department of Agricultural Extension, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, India. 3 School of Social Science, College of Post Graduate Studies, Central Agricultural University, Ri-Bhoi, Barapani, Meghalaya, India. Corresponding author: dattajayasree3@gmail.com ABSTRACT Jhum/shifting cultivation is traditional land-use practice of North East region of India, is an ecologically and economically viable system of agriculture as long as population densities are low and Jhum cycles are long enough to maintain soil fertility. Population explosion resulted in reduction of Jhum cycle due to which, the resilience of ecosystem is interrupted and the quality of the land is worsening day by day which is important to maintain the sustainability of Jhum. Hence an attempt has been made to know the perception of tribal people about the sustainability of Jhum cultivation. The study was conducted in Tripura and data was collected using pretested interview schedule. The result indicates that majority of the farmers perceived sustainability level of Jhum as medium followed by low and high. It is also revealed that number of family member involved in Jhum, area under Jhum, Jhum cycle and cosmopoliteness have direct correlation with sustainability level and contributed most for variation in sustainability level of Jhum. So these variables must be manipulated and farmers need to be supported by enterprises such as dairy, poultry, piggery, goatery etc. to improve their socio- economic condition. This diversiication can naturally promote sustainable Jhum by way recycling farm wastes. Keywords: Jhum, shifting cultivation, sustainability, Jhum cycle, Tripura Jhum or shifting cultivation is a widely distributed and main form of agriculture in the upland areas of North East India. The hills constituted about 70% of the total land of North East region, where shifting agriculture, locally called “Jhum” is the traditional chief land use system (Ramakrishnan et. al., 1996). Traditional Jhum or shifting cultivation is the form of agriculture in which indigenous communities clear and cultivate secondary forests, and leave parcels to regenerate naturally via fallows of medium to long duration (Fujisaka et al., 1996). Jhum contributes 85% of the total cultivation in North East India. The practice of Jhum involves site selection, slash and burn followed by mixed cropping for a year or two International Journal of Social Science : Vol. 3. No. 2, 179-190, June 2014