How has shifting cultivation affected the forests and soils of the Tripura Hills?

In the Tripura Hills, the practice of jhum, or shifting cultivation, has historically impacted the landscape by creating patches of bare soil in areas that were once heavily forested.1

The environmental consequences of this practice are a subject of ongoing debate:

• Forest Impact: Traditionally, jhum involves clearing forest land for farming and rotating to new plots. While historically viewed by policymakers as a primary driver of forest depletion, some modern research suggests that traditional methods allow cleared lands to regenerate over time, potentially maintaining biodiversity and offering an ecologically sustainable alternative to sedentary farming.2
• Soil Impact: The soils in the region are generally coarse-textured sandy loams that are almost devoid of humus. Shifting agriculture is often used as an adaptation to tropical conditions where continuous cultivation without fertilizers would quickly exhaust soil nutrients. By clearing and burning vegetation, the process can temporarily enrich the soil with ashes, though critics argue that the system can degrade the fertility of tropical forestlands if not managed through sufficient fallow periods.13