76 1 Associate Professor (dkpextension@gmail.com), College of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural University (Manipur), Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh; 2 Principal Scientist (bhuthnath@gmail.com), ICAR-CIFA, Bhubaneswar; 3 National Coordinator (prabhatflori@gmail.com), Krishi Anusandhan Bhavan-II New Delhi; 4 Principal Scientist (skumar710@gmail. com), ICAR-ATARI, Kanpur. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 89 (11): 1828–31, November 2019/Article Agrarian change and well-being status of Mara tribe in Mizoram D K PANDEY 1 , H K DE 2 , PRABHAT KUMAR 3 and S K DUBEY 4 College of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural University, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh 791 102, India Received: 26 October 2018; Accepted: 25 April 2019 ABSTRACT This study is focused on the agrarian change and well-being status among Mara hill tribe practicing Shifting Cultivation (SC) in Saiha, a remote Hill district in North Eastern Region of India. Using a mixed methods research design, 50 tribal households were interviewed with the help of structured interview schedule. The fndings reveal transition in terms of aversion of the tribal youths from SC, declining dependency of the community on SC and fare share (37.16%) of total expenditure on children’s education. Further, increased access to information gadgets like mobile phone, TV and radio are triggering material aspirations among the tribal community. The average monthly income of respondent households was about ` 10766 and 77.56% of the total income is contributed by agriculture and allied activities. Higher inclination was observed towards settled cultivation with high value horticultural crops, however, community ownership of land, lack of market access and higher technological gap in agriculture were impeding entrepreneurship. The study reveals that well-being of 93% tribal households were moderate or inconsistent. They are experiencing diffculties as on date and are also expected to continue with it in the near future. Hence, planning and implementation of development schemes focused on welfare and livelihood diversifcation need to be revisited to enhance overall well-being of the hill tribe who rely on SC for their livelihood. Key words: Hill tribe, Northeast India, Shifting cultivation, Transition, Well-being Shifting cultivation (SC) is mainly practiced by hill communities since the Neolithic period (13,000–3,000 BC) in the continents like Asia, Africa, and Latin America (Mazoyer and Roudart 2007). SC is also considered as a main agent of conversion of primary forests to secondary forests in the highlands (Schmidt-Vogt et al. 2009). In the last few decades SC systems have changed or are in the practice of conversion into other land use systems in Southeast Asia (Fox et al. 2009, Li et al. 2014). The meta-analysis of van Vliet et al. (2012) established that such region has undergone signifcant decline in SC and the drivers are economic structures, market development, population growth and policies (particularly SC management policies). In addition, Heinimann et al. (2017) envisaged that by 2030, SC may disappear from India. If at all such an event becomes reality there will be various issues of livelihood security of the communities dependent on SC. Nevertheless, there exists varied views on such remarkable transformation because of factors like market economy, land use policies etc. (Li et al. 2014). The driving forces behind this transition in India are entwined with several rehabilitation schemes that have been implemented by the State and Central Governments to control shifting cultivation such as Watershed Development Projects, Soil conservation schemes, SC Control Projects, New Land Use Policy Scheme etc. (Tripathi and Barik 2003). The government and pro-environment organizations are finding ways to replace SC mainly by adopting farm and nonfarm livelihood diversifcation strategies due to widespread documented negative consequences (Zaitinvawra and Kanagaraj 2008, Rai and Chutia 2014) of SC on environment. Literatures are scanty about well-being status of people practicing shifting cultivation. There are pressing demands for updated and accurate information on SC and transition among the people depending on SC hence, the present study was undertaken to empirically examine the socio-economic status, household income and expenditure pattern, information access, preferred diversifcation choice, challenges and status of overall well-being of the tribal communities whose livelihood currently depends upon SC. MATERIALS AND METHODS Present study was carried out with 50 tribal households of six (6) village clusters from two (2) Community and Rural Development (C&RD) clusters, viz. Sangau and Tuipang in Saiha, Mizoram, North East India. The low human population density (40 people per KM2, Census