A Geospatial Approach to Understand the Dynamics of Shifting Cultivation in Champhai District of Mizoram, North-East Ind
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
A Geospatial Approach to Understand the Dynamics of Shifting Cultivation in Champhai District of Mizoram, North-East India Pentile Thong1 • Rocky Pebam2 • Uttam Kumar Sahoo1 Received: 26 September 2016 / Accepted: 22 October 2017 Ó Indian Society of Remote Sensing 2018
Abstract The dynamics of crop-fallow rotation cycles of shifting cultivation has been poorly understood in northeastern part of the country although it is one of the major land use systems in the hilly states of this region. The present study was conducted to understand the dynamics of shifting cultivation through the use of Landsat time-series data from 1999 to 2016 in Champhai district of Mizoram. We mapped the current jhum fields and abandoned areas of each imagery of the study period and performed a post classification comparison to assess the crop-fallow rotation cycle/jhum cycle. The chronosequential change of slash and burn area over the past 17 years showed a decreasing trend with the greater part of the shifting cultivation area being occupied by 2nd year crop fields, covering 48.81% of total jhum land. On average, 114.46 km2 area were annually slashed for current jhum, out of which 33.41% continued with current jhum 2nd year cropping and only 3.27% of jhumias continued with 3rd year cropping. The shifting cultivation patches were mostly confined to moderately steep slopes (15°–30°). East facing aspect was mostly preferred and North facing aspect was least preferred. During the study period, 10 years jhum cycle covered the maximum area followed by 9 years and 11 years jhum cycle. The end result of this study proved that the prevalent jhum cycle in Champhai district is 8–11 years with a fallow period of 6–9 years. Keywords Shifting cultivation Remote sensing and GIS Time-series data Jhum cycle
Introduction In tropical regions shifting cultivation is one of the most significant land use systems used by the native and local communities (Coomes et al. 2000; Mertz 2009; Ickowitz 2006). It is implanted in the traditions and livelihoods of millions of people worldwide (Parrotta and Trosper 2012) and is frequently the only means available to ensure food security for the poorest people in the rural landscapes (Padoch and Pinedo-Vasquez 2010; Coomes et al. 2011). In India, shifting cultivation (also known as slash-and-burn agriculture or jhum cultivation) is practised extensively in & Uttam Kumar Sahoo [email protected]; [email protected] 1
Department of Forestry, School of Earth Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Mizoram University, Aizawl 796004, India
2
North Eastern Space Applications Centre, Shillong, Meghalaya 793103, India
the North-Eastern region. In this traditional agriculture practise, the old growth forest is cleared and burnt for cultivation for some years and then moved on to clear new forest land. Over the past years, shifting cultivation was considered environmentally suitable when the fallow period was for 15–20 years. Then the fallow period was long enough to regenerate soil capacity an
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